Eddie Murphy is to retire from the movie business. Speaking to Extra TV, he professed:  “I have close to 50 movies and it’s like ‘Why am I in the movies?’ I’ve done that part now. I’ll go back to the stage and do stand-up.”

While his words may come as some sweet relief to anyone who caught his recent comedy efforts such as Norbit, it is probably not the news that Fox was looking for. Its upcoming Murphy project Meet Dave (the film was retitled from Starship Dave, always a sign of quality) is rolling out pronto and Murphy’s defeatist attitude and negative words are unlikely to help the film for which critics have been sharpening their knives in anticipation. Some people just can’t forget about Pluto Nash. Although a lot of us wish we could.

Monkey-man Mutt be damned! Despite the poor critical reception Steven Spielberg’s Kingdom Of The Crystal Skull received, it has motored on home to a worldwide gross of over $700 million. Breaking the $300 million barrier domestically last week on top of a pretty healthy $400 million in overseas receipts, Harrison Ford’s return as Indiana Jones has become the biggest moneymaker at the box office this year so far, and Paramount’s second movie this summer, after Iron Man, to breach this $300 million mark.

While this is an impressive record, and one that is made all the more so considering the missed opportunity that the film was, it faces some stiff competition if it is to retain this ‘king of the summer’ title. With anticipation for The Dark Knight reaching feverish breaking point, and with lavish praise being bandied about by those fortunate to have caught the film at Stateside screenings, Batman is sure to give the dusty archaeologist a run for his money.

Variety has confirmed a story posted several weeks ago that Sir Ian McKellen will be starring as Number 2 in an upcoming remake of British classic The Prisoner.

The original story was broken by Six Of One, the official appreciation society for the show, back on 6 June. While the trade paper shies away from confirming some of the details in the original post, they do say that the series will be penned by Bill Gallagher, and that Jim Caviezel will co-star as Number 6. It will reportedly be six episodes in length, and air next year.

Don S Davis, best known for his roles on Stargate SG-1 and Twin Peaks, has died at the age of 65. The actor passed away on 29 June after suffering a heart attack.

Davis had a rich career through his life, including several years in the US Army, numerous film and television roles, and a blossoming talent in art that he began to fully develop over the last few years. Davis played Maj Gen George Hammond on Stargate SG-1 for seven years, before having to leave due to health-related issues; his kind nature and raw talent will be greatly missed.

The family of the deceased have asked that in lieu of any flowers or gifts, people wishing to mark his passing should donate to the American Heart Foundation. Davis’s final appearances will be in Stargate: Continuum, Vipers, Woodshop and Far Cry.

It has been confirmed that a sequel to 2008’s ab-fest 300 is on the way. Legendary pictures, the company who produced the first film for Warner Bros., is apparently on board again and fast-tracking the project as a high priority.

Frank Miller is currently penning a sequel, although it’s hard to see a contiguous story being developed here. After all, at the end of the first film everyone died, something that has been overcome before in films but usually in a fairly ridiculous manner.

The news comes through Variety, although it’s worth mentioning that this was first reported several days ago by Collider.

As the deadline for the SAG-AMPTP contract negotiation looms overhead, the actors’ union president Alan Rosenberg has released a statement in an attempt to allay fears of a possible strike.

“We have taken no steps to initiate a strike authorisation vote by the members of Screen Actors Guild. Any talk about a strike or a management lockout at this point is simply a distraction. The Screen Actors Guild national negotiating committee is coming to the bargaining table every day in good faith to negotiate a fair contract for actors.”

It is widely known that all parties are waiting to hear the results of the AFTRA deal ratification vote on 8 July. If the members of the smaller union decide to go forward with what many see as an inferior deal, it places the SAG as the only union that has yet to negotiate a contract of similar terms to those accepted by the WGA and DGA earlier this year.

The negotiation process for what the SAG has dubbed ‘Contract 08’ has become increasingly bitter over the last few months. AFTRA and the SAG, which have over 40,000 dual members between the two of them, have historically brokered deals in partnership with each other. However, following accusations of member poaching from the smaller representative organisation, the two negotiated separately. The SAG has since instigated a campaign to convince AFTRA members not to ratify the contract on 8 July, while both sides on the labour line continue to become more and more fractured.

In order for a strike to take place, SAG must seek an authorisation vote from its members, with 75 per cent of the members approving in order to call a labour walkout. Whereas the WGA strikes deeply affected television production earlier this year, an SAG labour dispute would virtually shut down film production. The main source of dispute over the renewal of the contracts this year, for all parties, has been the issue of New Media. The unions claim that they are entitled to a share of residuals for content streamed over the internet, as well as clips of their members’ work used in promotional materials. The producers, however, are claiming that the internet is still an untested market, and that more time is needed to adequately assess the level of engagement from the public, and revenue creation that this entails.

We will continue to bring you more updates on this story as we receive them.

Grace Park has stated that the first of the upcoming Battlestar Galactica television movies will begin shooting in August, while the cast have discussed the possibility of more.

The actress made the comments to the LA Times over the weekend. “I just heard about the first Battlestar movie being greenlit,” she revealed, however, nobody has apparently been consulted about the production yet. “A TV movie, but still! It’s like, yeah, it’s over, but we’re ready to move on but nobody’s manager or agent has been called. It’s supposed to start in August.”

With the end of the Peabody award-winning show on the horizon next year, rumblings from both the actors and people behind the scenes have been that the studio is very interested in pursuing more stories set in the Colonial Fleet in the vein of Razor. However, aside from Edward James Olmos confirming to SciFiNow in May that the idea is being floated, this is the first time that an actor on the show has explicitly confirmed a date.

The final half of Battlestar’s last season will air in 2009. Any movies produced are expected to go back through the show’s history and cover the events in far greater detail than was possible in a 45-minute format.

British actress Helena Bonham Carter, who was last seen in Tim Burton’s Sweeney Todd, is rumoured to be in talks to take up a role in McG’s Terminator Salvation, says The Hollywood Reporter. Carter’s role is yet unannounced but it is suggested that it will be a role that is small yet pivotal to the film’s reboot mythology.

McG’s Terminator sequel, which began filming last month in New Mexico, tells the story of the battle between mankind and Skynet and
already counts among its ranks Christian Bale, Sam Worthington, Anton Yelchin, Bryce Dallas Howard (who replaced Charlotte Gainsbourg), Moon Bloodgood and Common.

If you contributed to the mightily impressive $89 million that Bong Joon-Ho’s 2007’s creature feature The Host notched up, then you’ll be glad to hear that a sequel has been announced.

Co-produced by Korean production company Chungeorahm and Chinese company Stone Man Films, the follow up movie will again blend elements of horror with social commentary. Telling the story of another primordial beast and the path of destruction, and mutilation, it leaves in its wake, the film’s focus will be on the people who lie in its path but who ignore the imminent threat they face because of their fixation with and desire for money.
Chinese director/writer Ning Hao will be pen the screenplay and he’ll be calling the shots too when the film goes into production. No release date has been set yet.

Brad Beyer and Ashley Scott have reportedly said that they have heard rumours of a Jericho movie, and would be happy to reprise their roles if this was to become a reality.

“We got here and caught wind of a possible movie idea, which we thought was really good. I think Brad had heard about it online the other day, and I just heard tonight, and I thought that would be really wonderful, wouldn’t it? Kind of put a closing on it.” Said Scott in an interview at the Saturn Awards recently, further stoking the fires of a fanbase that managed to resurrect the show from cancellation earlier this year. Beyer also confirmed his enthusiasm for some sort of end chapter for the series, citing the fact that he feels the story is unfinished. “”We kind of feel like it needs some closure, because it still feels kind of weird. I mean, we didn’t get to a whole second season. … I think you can do a lot more with it. I think there’s a lot of different ways you can go with the story.”

Jericho was a troubled production from the start, which was brought back for a seven-episode second season. However, despite popular support for the fan-run “Nuts” campaign, it failed to garner significant ratings, and was once again cancelled for good. Whether or not a Jericho movie actually happens remains to be seen, however SciFiNow suggests that this isn’t likely.