They were announced with great fanfare. Anticipated breathlessly, blogged about furiously, and drooled over mightily. Then...nothing. Just a state of Geekus Interruptus. But never fear, dear readers: EW has put out an All Points Pop Culture Bulletin on projects ranging from Ben Stiller's CBS comedy to the Goonies sequel. We're not promising that the answers will thrill you — but hopefully they'll provide some sweet, sweet closure.
THE X-FILES 2
Nothing about The X-Files is ever straightforward. Last June, five years
after the Fox show went off the air and nine years since the release of
the first X-Files movie, series exec producer Frank Spotnitz told EW
that most of the plot to a big-screen sequel had been ''worked out.''
Then, in September, David Duchovny reportedly confirmed that he, Gillian
Anderson, and creator Chris Carter were all willing to do a second movie
but that some legal issues — relating to Carter's lawsuit against 20th
Century Fox over syndication profits — had to be resolved first.
Prognosis
Carter did not return calls for comment, but according to a recent
report, the legal dustup might soon be over. If true, Anderson's manager
Connie Freiberg says, ''there's no obstacles other than the delivery of a
great script.'' — Clark Collis
BEN STILLER'S CBS PROJECT
CBS scored the coup of the season when it announced last summer that Ben
Stiller was going to executive-produce and direct a sitcom starring his
wife, actress Christine Taylor. Better still, Stiller planned to take a
recurring role in the semiautobiographical series, which would feature
Taylor as a Hollywood actress who stays close to her hometown friends
and family. Everything about the show seemed like a slam dunk — even more
so after Night at the Museum opened in December and roared past $500
million worldwide, officially making Stiller one of the most bankable
comedy stars on the planet.
Prognosis
The script never made it out of development hell, so the project has
been tabled for now and it's unclear whether CBS will revisit it.
Fortunately for Taylor, all her hubby's movie cash should soften the
blow. — Lynette Rice
STEVEN SPIELBERG'S 'LINCOLN'
It feels like four score and seven years since Steven Spielberg optioned
the rights to Doris Kearns Goodwin's unfinished Abraham Lincoln
biography back in 2001. (In his defense, Goodwin's book, Team of Rivals,
didn't reach stores until October 2005.) And with the director committed
to Indiana Jones 4 next, Lincoln has been put on hold again — but it
doesn't look like it'll be a long wait. The director has long been
passionate about our 16th president, and the project is moving forward
with Pulitzer Prize winner Tony Kushner (Munich) writing the script and
Liam Neeson set to star.
Prognosis
Spielberg embraced a ''one for them, one for me'' strategy in 1993
(Jurassic Park/Schindler's List) and 2005 (War of the Worlds/Munich). So
it seems more likely than not that he'll pull off an Indy/Lincoln twofer. Honest.
'THE GOONIES 2'
The coolest kid adventure film of the 1980s — eat it, Flight of the
Navigator! — has enjoyed a fervent cult following ever since its release
in 1985. But what Goonies lovers really want to know is, Will we ever
see Chunk, Data, and Mouth in another big-screen incarnation? Not
likely, says the film's director, Richard Donner (16 Blocks). ''We never
had a script,'' he explains. ''We tried a couple of times and every time
we did, we realized, 'What are we doing?''' Well, what they are doing
now, says Donner, is attempting to mount a musical adaptation of the
original, which was written by Chris Columbus from Steven Spielberg's
story. Says Donner, ''Steven and I have discussed it, and it's something
that I'm fairly passionate about right now.''
Prognosis
All we can say is that we cannot wait to see the ''Truffle Shuffle'' as a
lavish production number.
ROSIE O'DONNELL'S 'NIP/TUCK' SPIN-OFF
O'Donnell generated buzz with a skin-baring, laugh-generating, and
mildly disturbing turn last year on three episodes of FX's soapy drama.
How much buzz? Well, after playing white-trash lottery winner Dawn
Budge — a role which saw The View cohost bed Christian (Julian McMahon) on
a zebra-skin rug — rumors flew about a potential series spin-off starring
O'Donnell. So, what happened? An FX source tells EW that while there
were talks between O'Donnell and series creator Ryan Murphy, the project
never went beyond brainstorming.
Prognosis
O'Donnell's rep claims discussions are ''ongoing,'' and the comedienne has
expressed interest in returning to Nip/Tuck next season. That means
there's a very good chance we haven't seen the last of Dawn Budge — or
that zebra-skin rug.
