Gorgeous Chinese actress Bai Ling discovered recently that “I have these eight little spirits in me - a wise one, a mischievous one, a sexy one, a provocative one…” Playboy readers will get to see all of these sides of Bai - and more - in an exotic, sizzling five-page nude pictorial and poster appearance in Playboy’s June issue (on newsstands Thursday, May 19). The free-spirited Asian beauty and Hollywood wild child tapped into her sensual nature when filming scenes for the upcoming Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith, where she played an alien senator. “People ask me how the Star Wars experience was,” Bai told Erik Hedegaard for Playboy. “I feel like basically it is its own real world and I’m the alien dropped in from the sky, through the ceiling, to their city to visit for a while.”

There […] was speculation that Fox was looking to resurrect the animated series “Futurama,” from “The Simpsons” creator Matt Groening, on its Sunday lineup the same way that “Family Guy” was brought back last year. The network has an option for new episodes, which currently are being produced for Cartoon Network’s Adult Swim late-night block.

again seems good news for the fururama fans… via factorfake

Ian McKellen, who co-stars in the upcoming religious thriller The Da Vinci Code, told SCI FI Wire that he’s well aware of the controversy surrounding the film and the Dan Brown book on which it’s based, but thinks the controversy has been blown out of proportion. McKellen co-stars as Sir Leigh Teabing, the Holy Grail expert who figures prominently in the action as Robert Langdon (Tom Hanks) and Sophie Neveu (Audrey Tatou) try to solve the murder of Neveu’s grandfather.

better late, than never:

the 1977 theatrical version of Lucas’ Star Wars will be issued on home video again, but for the first time on DVD, on Sept. 12, LucasFilm announced Thursday.

The theatrical versions of 1980’s The Empire Strikes Back and 1983’s Return of the Jedi, Star Wars’ companion movies from the original trilogy, also will make their DVD debuts on that date.

The Saturns were given by the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films. […]

“King Kong” won for best actress (Naomi Watts), best director (Peter Jackson) and best special effects (Joe Letteri, Richard Taylor, Christian Rivers, Brian Van’t Hul). “Star Wars: Episode III,” “Sin City” and “The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe” each got two awards.
“Battlestar Galactica” took home prizes for best syndicated/cable TV series, best supporting actor on TV (James Callis) and best supporting actress (Katee Sackhoff). ABC’s “Lost” won two Saturns, for best network television series and best actor (Matthew Fox).

Also, legendary F/X maven Ray Harryhausen was presented with the George Pal Memorial Award

(more…)

Will Smith has reportedly landed the main role in an adaptation of Richard Matheson’s classic science fiction novel I Am Legend.