In this issue:

No Nazis in Indy IV?
Heath Ledger Auditions for Mad Max: Fury Road
Amazing Spiderman - Doc Ock and Animatronics
Amazing Spiderman - Filmmakers want Maguire, Dunst
Amazing Spiderman - Casting News
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No Nazis in Indy IV?

Frank Darabont, screenwriter of the upcoming fourth Indiana Jones movie, told SCI FI Wire that the sequel's 1950s setting requires different villains from those in previous installments, which were set in the 1930s. "Those pesky Nazis seem to have departed, which is a shame, because I like those pesky Nazis, because you can just squash them all over the place," Darabont said, with tongue in cheek.

Darabont would not say who the new villains were, but assured that the tone of adventure would be consistent with previous Indy movies. "From the standpoint of the fun of it and the adventure of it, [there will be] no [change]," he said.

Darabont added that he has nearly completed a first draft of the script and that director Steven Spielberg is happy with his progress. "The reaction has been quite good," he said. But the writer added that he is approaching the script one day at a time. "Right now, every day is like one foot in front of the other," he said. "It's 'How do I solve this next scene? How do I get this next three pages in its best form?'" The new Indiana Jones movie is still aiming for a July 1, 2005, release.
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Heath Ledger Auditions for Mad Max: Fury Road

Heath Ledger told the Moviehole Web site that he's up for a part in Mel Gibson's fourth Mad Max movie, Fury Road, but not playing Max's son. "I did say to [director] George Miller I’d do a walk-on role in it and have Mad Max shoot me in the head," Ledger told the site. "It’ll be cool just to be part of a Mad Max movie. I certainly wasn’t up for the son role, though."
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Amazing Spiderman - Doc Ock and Animatronics

Steve Johnson, the prosthetic and animatronic effects artist for the upcoming sequel The Amazing Spider-Man, told SCI FI Wire that director Sam Raimi wanted a real costume for the new villain, Doctor Octopus. "Sam's a fan [of animatronics], and he feels like the fans would prefer to see the real thing," rather than a computer-generated image, Johnson said in an interview. "It's a lot harder when you have a puppet, and you've got 18 performers on the set. It takes a lot longer to shoot than if you do it digitally."

In the comics, Doctor Octopus wears a rig that gives him mechanical arms. Johnson said that Doc Ock actor Alfred Molina has been a trouper in working with the elaborate costume. "He's strapped into a giant torture device, and he obeys our every command," Johnson said.

The costume will undergo some changes, as the makeup team adjusts to Molina's weight loss. "We're having to re-cast him, [because] he's lost so much weight since our initial molding of his body." The Amazing Spider-Man opens May 7, 2004.
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Amazing Spiderman - Filmmakers want Maguire, Dunst

Kirsten Dunst, who reprises the role of Mary Jane Watson in the upcoming sequel film The Amazing Spider-Man, told SCI FI Wire that filmmakers want Tobey Maguire to reprise the title role. "They're working with Tobey right now to see if he can do the role because of his back," Dunst said in an interview. "That's all I know."

Earlier reports suggested that Maguire was a question mark for the part as the result of a sore back sustained from arduous roles in both the original Spider-Man and Seabiscuit.

In any case, Dunst confirmed that she would return no matter what. "Whatever's going to happen, I'm going to be there on April 12 [when production begins]," Dunst said. "I'm Mary Jane, and I'm going to be working with whatever Peter comes along." The Amazing Spider-Man is scheduled for a May 7, 2004, release.
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Amazing Spiderman - Casting News

Sliders star Jerry O'Connell may be up for a role in The Amazing Spider-Man as a competing love interest for Kirsten Dunst's Mary Jane Watson, E! Online reported.