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| April 30th: Late Edition. Or early edition, depending on where you live. Here is a newswire piece formally announcing the premiere, which will benefit the USC School of Cinema-Television. SciFiWire has a couple brief bits - Will and Shuler talk monsters and Kate and Hugh talk stuntwork. Yahoo!Movies has a new storyboard slideshow which features Frankenstein, Dracula and a lot of cranky villagers. Don't forget to set VCR's. Starting this Sunday a week of Van Helsing action on television: EOnline! ** Scifi Channel ** MTV ** plus Hugh Jackman will be making the rounds to talk up the film on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno on May 3rd, The Ellen Degeneres Show as well as The Today Show on May 7th, Late Night with David Letterman on May 13th and The View on May 14th. Please check local listings and program websites for times and any changes.....or tune in to Jackman's Landing where they probably know better what Hugh is up to then he does himself. Thanks to JL, and to Ann. Great weekend to all. Next week will be suhweet!! April 29th: Puppies noses and, well, you'll see. Kate and Hugh have the Access Hollywood crew falling out of their chairs. Heads-up UK. MTV UK will air 'Making the Movie: Van Helsing', Friday (30April) at 600pm. Check your local listings. I will recap all of next week's expected Van Helsing TV fare tomorrow. If you know of anything airing, especially in the UK, let me know and I will add it to the list. Thanks Nic. April 28th: A little light reading. I've got several online articles which have been piling up like a stack of newspapers. So when you've got the chance, kick back and read up. 'If you build it, they will come'. Sommers talks about the VH set built for Czech shoot and what to do with it afterwards. SciFiWire. 'Reinventing the classics'. CNN looks into Universal's big gamble to redesign the most beloved monsters of all time. 'When Shuler met Hugh'. No not another Rob Reiner film, though it would make a good one. Playbill talks to Shuler about his not so dangerous liasons with his pal Jackman. Stephen Sommers plays with Barbie and Ken. What? SciFiWire tells all. Jackman prepared to go down with the ship....uh, there will be no ship going down. MSNBC. 'No, it's not a scene from Santa Claus 3'. Good one. Brian Briggs takes stock on the Helsing trailer. Thanks to JL and to Carol. April 27th: Dances with werewolves. I've got a little sneak preview of Velkan fighting a losing battle with the big bad werewolf; a sentimental Dracula waxing poetic; a Frankenstein not in the mood for house guests; a bevy of brides gone batty; and Van Helsing and Anna butting heads, lips and managing to slay a few creatures along the way as well. There is definitely swashbuckling adventure in these nine little clips from the movie, courtesy of Yahoo!Movies. Popcorn optional. Ratty Rules. At long last a couple good photos of Will in all his glorious 'Rattiness'. These are from this past winter's production of William Tuckett's, 'Wind in the Willows'. The cast photo includes cuddly Mole played by Joh Williams, weary and wise Badger played by Kenneth Tharp, and that madman in plaid, Matthew Hart, as Toad. Great cast, great director, great show. And great to be able to share with those who've never seen the show some decent photos of Will as the old smoothy of the riverbank. Note you will also find a lovely photo of Will and Gaby from the Lost in Translation launch party. I cannot post these photos so must link you over to Corbis.com where you will type in Will's name to pull up the photos. Thanks Heather. Nice catch. One more contest over at CHUD. If you live in Atlanta, Tampa, Charlotte, Memphis, Orlando or Nashville, you might just win tickets to an advance screening of the film. Good luck. April 26th: He goes to Rio. If you haven't had a chance to see Hugh Jackman shake those maracas and his tush while belting out that song in 'Boy from Oz', you are missing out on some kind of sizzlin' fun. Ice water please. In any case, word has it that Will and some of the other cast members from Van Helsing took in the shimmering, shimmying Hugh at last Friday night's performance. Richard Roxburgh was, in fact, Hugh's bi-coastal victim for the night. Hugh loves to toy with the audience during the show and I can well imagine that Mr. Roxburgh gave as good as he got. Thanks Nic. Just a reminder - tonight at 630pm on MTV - set your VCR's to record 'Making the Movie: Van Helsing'. Best to check your local listings. Frankenstein runs loose in Central Park; Dracula goes Billy Idol blonde; Sommer's number one casting rule involves, um, arses; Jackman goes girly-man. These bits and a whole lot more in the May issue of UK Hot Dog. Also out of London, a great photo of Wolf Man's billboard. Build a monster, win a monstrous prize. That hip, happenin' movie website, CHUD, will reward you with the Universal Legacy Collection if you can piece together the various body parts of the classic monsters to make the ultimate monster. Sounds kind of fun actually. April 23rd: It's Alive! Someone has finally sent a jolt of electricity through the Van Helsing Official Site. Updates galore. First, on the the original 'About the Film' page, the bios, storyboards and production notes are now available. Be sure to check out the storyboard for the 'library sequence' where Velkan fights the good fight with his inner werewolf. The production notes are positively stellar and give you a great feel for what went on during the shoot as well as for the process as a whole. New sections have been added to the site as well. They are not all fully functional yet, but there is already some cool stuff in there. Absolutely loved the Valerious library. Be sure to click on the books on the the table as you just might learn something new; like say, how to build a creature. You can also pick up a map of Transylvania and hit the hot spots with virtual tours of Drac's and Frankenstein's castles, the creepy catacombs and the gorgeous ballroom where the Count holds his parties. Excellent feature. Carl's Lab offers a show and tell of the Van Helsing arsenal and answers the burning question, 'who is Van Helsing' - although this section does not appear to be fully operational yet. (get it? lab - operational). Uh, moving right along then...the Media section is not fully completed but will eventually also include interviews and clips. All in all, very good job I say. Feels like we've waited forever for this site to get to this point - Universal's plan to drive us a bit batty with anticipation perhaps? Okay, always best to leave the room when the puns start making an appearance. Good weekend all. April 22nd: Man of the Moment. Will had a brief chat with GQ magazine and managed to cover everything from ripped six packs to monkey's asses. Honestly. What's not to love about this guy? I should also mention that there are two very dangerous photos that go along with this piece. Meanwhile, Vogue casts its vote for Will to be the next big thing in Hollywood. Will, however, reminds everyone that he is not yet ready to hang up those dance shoes. He is loving this two career life and will keep at is as long as he can. And yes, there is a photo. This one is of the darn cute variety. The Hollywood Reporter picks up on the Van Helsing trail with features on the media blitz which is just beginning to heat up. The first article discusses their decision to pair Van Helsing with the NBA Finals in a slam-dunk, win-win situation. The second article is quite good and really gets into the massive marketing that is behind the movie and all the spin-offs. This is the most comprehensive article to date on marketing plans, so read on up. My thanks to Carol. April 20th: Annoyingly good looking. So says UK Hot Dog in their recent interview with Will. (He better be getting use to those kind of comments here on out). Will in turn talks about how he got his head around being a werewolf; admits to being nervous on his first day; and shares a bit about taking it all off werewolf style. The entire article is really pretty good with some funny quotes from various cast members and a good sense of humor approach. I will have the whole shebang up for you by week's end. Striptease. Nice rendering of Will's Wolf Man transformation. Based on Will's description of the process and with these sketches, you just know it is going to be a kick-ass moment in the film. Some new high res photos from the film can also be found at the same website these wolf man sketches came from - filmz.ru. Fighting the werewolf within us. Will talks about playing the grey area of a half-human, half-creature character in a cast interview with Shivers. This is an excerpt from their May issue which is available now in the UK. April 19th: Gotham City braces for Wolf Man's Arrival. Will is in New York City this week with other Van Helsing cast members for a press junket blitz. Wonder if he will also take in a little theatre while he is there. "Boy from Oz" perhaps? After NYC, he is headed to sunny California, where he will, amongst other things, be hitting the red carpet on May 3rd for the worldwide premiere. While we will have to wait a couple weeks for the fabulous photos that will come out of that Kemp stroll down the red carpet, I do have it on good authority that the upcoming US issues of both Vogue and GQ hold something very special in store for us. The May issue of UK Hot Dog, which is already out in the UK, should make us smile and the Dorchester Hotel Group Magazine has an exclusive article with gorgeous (the marketing director's words) photos of Will. That magazine will be out in May. As soon as I can get my hands on all these issues, I will have them scanned and posted. And you know I am practically camped out at Barnes and Noble about now. More mags with general Helsing coverage include the May issue of Premiere and the June issue of Sci-Fi. It's all pretty much along the same lines as we've seen in previous magazine coverage, but no matter. We'll take everything we can get. One magazine that does have a little something different, is the current issue of Make Up Artist. I've got an excerpt transcribed for you which talks just a little about Frankenstein's make up. Hopefully, a future issue will feature the film more prominently and of course, in particular, Wolf Man. That takes care of the print side of things. Be sure you are stocked up on video tapes as quite soon there will be a lot of VH stuff to capture as well. Check out MTV's "Making of Van Helsing" which will premiere on April 26th at 630pm. E!Online's "Behind the Scenes: Van Helsing" premiering on May 6th at 430pm with several showings. And the Sci-Fi Channel has "Van Helsing: The Man and the Monsters" on May 2nd, May 7th and May 8th. Please check site for times. Van Helsing finally got its MPAA rating - PG13, which is what Sommers wanted. Its "nonstop creature action violence, frightening images and sensuality" kept it from a PG. Thank goodness. My thanks to Jackman's Landing. April 14th: Monster Madness. A couple US newspapers have carried this article on Universal's hopes for the film to reap monsterous profits and successful spin-off products. Getting wedgies, impressive hickeys, a leading man who is NOT a meathead, werewolves on sticks, kinky boots and oh, yes, her hair caught on fire. The ravishing Kate Beckinsale recounts her days filming Van Helsing. My friend Jane in London reports that billboards for Van Helsing are springing up in town, including one with Wolf Man and the caption: "If there's one thing the Wolf Man is afraid of, it's VAN HELSING." The film opens in London on May 7th, with previews on the 6th. Thanks Jane. A sneak peak at a future swoon inductee whom I had the distinct pleasure of interviewing this past winter. As you know, he will be appearing with Will in the upcoming "The Soldier's Tale". The phenominal Matthew Hart. Thanks to Pat, Teri, Carol, and Heather. April 9th: Something old, something new. Fantastic behind-the-scenes featurette which starts off with those unforgettable iconic monsters of our childhood and brings us swiftly to the present with footage of Stephen Sommers' new creature crew. And at long last, some brief footage of Will working with Stephen, as well as a few quick shots of Velkan and some new Wolf Man images to boot. Check out the "Paying Tribute to the Past" link over at Yahoo!Movies. Yahoo indeed. This is great stuff. Think big. Very big. As in a very big Van Helsing billboard smack dab in the middle of Times Square. How cool is that? Okay. Here is a guy I would really like to hang with even if it happens to be upside down from the ceiling. Richard Roxburgh rocks. He may turn out to be the ultimate Dracula as well. But here and now he is talking about dance lessons, the Count from Sesame Street, and how to tell if you've got his vampireness all hot and bothered. Check out his horror.com interview right here. This ain't your grandma's 'stomping, screaming and moaning' Frankenstein. Scifiwire talks with the multi-talented Shuler Hensley on taking the good doctor's monster to a whole other place. Thanks to Nic (WooHoo!!) and Joanna. And that's a wrap. See ya all next week. Have a good one. April 7th: Get ready, get set, get scared. On May 7th, not only does the movie "Van Helsing" debut, but Universal Studios Hollywood will also throw open the castle doors to "Van Helsing: Fortress Dracula", an attraction inspired by the film. Guests will experience the full ambience of Chez Drac as they try to make their way through his creepy crypt while surrounded by legions of pygmy bats, swarming rats, howling werewolves and much, much more. Comingsoon has the scoop. Oh you lucky Angelenos. There are two new Mindhunters posters to behold. Thanks to Teri at Val Kilmer Newsletter. April 6th: Enhancement; so to speak. Playbill.com gets in on the Van Helsing action. The article is mainly about stage stars Jackman and Hensley pairing up again, but our own stage star does get a mention as well. Hugh Jackman does the 'head toss' and explains how long hair makes everything possible. Catch the vid clip and a short article over on ETonline. Thanks to Nic and the gals at JL for keeping me (and you) informed while I was on the road this past week and to Roy for the magazine scans. You guys are the best!!! April 2nd: Will talks fur balls in this sidebar piece which is part of Empire Magazine's May cover story on Van Helsing. I will not be able to get the entire article (along with a much better scan of Will and his musings on the importance of an anatomically correct Wolf Man) on this site until next week as I am still tied up with 'real life' commitments. So be sure to visit Jackman's Landing as they do have it ready to go in a neat little zip-lock bag. As promised, I have an enhanced scan of the Total Film photo for you, courtesy of my pal Roy. Igor.....talk about being all bent out of shape. Kevin J. O'Connor gives us the lowdown on this determined little 'company man' in the latest horror.com interview. Latino Review scores again with two new Van Helsing banners. And Universal has confirmed back that the world premiere of Van Helsing will be May 3rd at the Universal Ampitheatre in Los Angeles. Thanks to Roy, Nic and JL, Lauren and Joanna. |