Entertainment News

Schwarzenegger up for third installment

When he said he’d be back, he really wasn’t kidding. Just when movie-goers thought the franchise was dead and buried in the shrouded mists of time, beefy thespian Arnold Schwarzenegger has thrown his hat into the ring for a third installment in the “Terminator” series, according to E! Online.

“Terminator 3” is currently in the early stages of development, but Schwarzenegger told Access Hollywood that he is determined to make one more flick about the unstoppable yet kinder and gentler killing machine from the apocalyptic future.

“I like the idea, but it’s not only me,” Schwarzenegger told E! Online.. “I always go by what the people out there in the world would like to see. If I go to Russia, when I was in China or when I go anywhere in Europe or Africa, it’s the most asked question, ‘Will you do another Terminator?'”

Director James Cameron, who was the creative impetus behind the first two films, has not yet agreed to sign on to the project, which at this time has no script, story or producer.

“We’ll make an announcement soon,” Schwarzenegger said. “It’s all a matter of the script, the director and all of those kinds of things.”

The project may be an attempt to increase the actor’s less-than-impressive string of forgettable recent projects such as “End of Days.” A return to a proven format may be the boost Schwarzenegger needs to bulk up his box-office area and his ticket-sales zone, but the actor says he is just hoping to work once again with a winning team.

“My big wish is Jim Cameron and I work together again,” he said.

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Universal breaks with ‘Dieter’ for good

Universal Pictures will not be loving Mike Myers’ monkey any time soon. Complicated plans to turn Myers’ Saturday Night Live character Dieter into box-office gold have been completely aborted, according to E! Online.

Two weeks ago, Myers ducked out of the film project he wrote for Universal. June 5, Universal filed a breach of contract suit against Myers to get $5 million back that it had spent in pre-production before Myers backed out.

The suit failed and this week, the studio shut down pre-production and fired the remaining 25 employees who had been working on the film.

Myers’ attorney Martin Singer said a lawsuit against Universal may be filed sometime this week.

Myers’ would have received a $20 million payment for writing and starring in the film, but he said the script he had written was unacceptable.

“I cannot in good conscience accept $20 million and cheat moviegoers,” Myers said E! Online. “The script does not work, and it needs more time to be fixed.” Myers’ attorney said his client’s contract stipulated Myers’ final approval before filming could begin. Myers was not satisfied and exercised his option.

Studio chairman Stacey Snider claimed that although she was disappointed in not being able to make the film, her larger concern was for all the people laid off as a result of Myers’ decision.

The project was to begin filming in August with a release date set for next summer and was to include David Hasselhoff, Will Ferrell and Jack Black in supporting roles.

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Napster gets high-profile lawyer

MP3 software provider and Internet music download site Napster recently hired a top gun attorney to help it battle the recording industry, according to Reuters.

David Boies, a top antitrust litigator who worked with Cravath, Swaine & Moore before setting up his own group, Boies, Schiller & Flexner, who won a price-fixing case for the vitamin industry and played an important role in the government’s antitrust case against Microsoft.

He has been retained by Napster to aid in its defense against the Record Industry Association of America (RIAA), which is suing the Internet startup for alleged copyright violations.

RIAA requested an injunction against Napster this week to force it to stop its dissemination of artist recordings. In response, Napster has argued they are a technology company that cannot be held responsible for the practices of its clientele just as service providers have avoided libel for the postings of its users.

Boies asked “whether an Internet directory can be held liable for permitting users to engage in sharing, which is not only permitted but encouraged on a small scale, simply because the scale of the Internet greatly increases the extent of the sharing.”

Napster tells its reputed 10 million users they can easily distribute music to any other user on their system. RIAA has said that this many users sharing music has hurt its sales of compact discs.

Napster has countered that their system is in no way different than the use of video and audio recording equipment which are in widespread use legally.

“This case raises important questions of how the copyright laws are to be applied to this new medium,” said Boies. “[It] raises important questions as to the extent to which Internet directories will remain free to permit individual users to use a directory to communicate and, in some cases, to share files without monitoring and regulating what those users do.”

To downplay the illegal uses its service has been put to, Napster has argued that the benefits to the music industry in terms of free publicity for new musicians has outweighed the negative effects, according to Reuters.

Hank Barry, Napster CEO said his company respects copyrights and artists.

“Napster respects copyrights,” he said. “[We are] committed to protecting the interests of artists and other rights holders.”