Rat Race: The official site of this new "It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World" style cross country chase caper is now open with more stills from the production. There's a stellar cast but the August 10th opening isn't a strong sign, still - here's hoping. Thanks to 'Vince Vieluf's Honey'.

Robert Rodriguez's Next: 'Daniel' is an entertainment reporter from Chile who recently scored a set visit to a certain Desperado sequel which he eagerly checked out. Take note, I've had to translate and rewrite some of the sentences in this scoop so some of the English ain't crash hot - but the info is:

Lord of the Rings: 'Svaran' has a scoop which, if true has BIG spoilers in it and I mean BIG (as in a character death vastly changed from that in the book). So turn away now....you turned yet. One last time, WARNING WARNING. Ok its on your own head if you read on from here. Here's the scoop from 'Svaran': " I was working on Sunday with a tech at the studios near Wellington airpot where many scenes were shot for Lord of the Rings. Gave me some interesting gos on Sauron. He is a tall armoured figure whose armour is covered in spikes, When the ring is destroyed Barad-dur explodes and Sauron is hurled to his death and impaled on a spike which breaks his fall( I can't remember that in the book). At the moment he said that they have constructed another model of the dark tower and rigged it with pyros. I asked would the dark tower looked like and he said like a mountain covered in towers".

Choke/Survivor: 'The Creeper' has an update on the Chuck Palanhiuk book turned film: "I recently did and article for my employer and had the opportunity to speak with none other than Chuck Pahalniuk author of Fight Club and the recently released novel CHOKE. Mr. P said that Nicole Kidman had been very interested in Choke but recently passed on an adaptation. However, Madonna recently expressed interest through "her people" and is interested in co-financing the picture as well. Master P reported that Fox was hesitant to move on the project because of the lack of box office that Fight Club generated. Also, their are no plans at this time to bring Survivor to the screen, and he has already sold the rights to his upcoming 3 part novel". This scoop strikes one as rather odd as Chuckpalahniuk.net confirms there is NO major female lead role in "Choke", rather the two actresses mentioned have been previously talked about for "Survivor" - meaning the scooper has likely got the two mixed up (which would then mean "Choke" would NOT be adapted into a movie). Thanks to 'Brian'.

Various Bits: Thanks Moviehole, 'Dave', 'Shannon', 'Tyler Durden', 'Clint', 'James', 'NVF', 'Dust Bunny', 'Chris', 'Jay' and 'R&J':

Enterprise (TV): The new S.S. Enterprise is here, the ship image that appears in the just released TV Guide is now online (you'll have to get the mag for the accompanying article). Meantime Production Designer Herman Zimmerman told the 2001 Visual Effects Society festival that the pilot episode "used over forty different sets and locations during the shoot, in contrast to many feature films, which use less than thirty". For more details, check out the report on the official site. Thanks to TrekToday, St*rxite 7, 'Gustavo' & 'T-bird'

Tomb Raider 2 & Jurassic Park III: Plans for a sequel to the action blockbuster may have to be put on hold according to People News. The reason? Angelina Jolie wants a family: "I know a lot of people think I'm crazy but I believe that I'm ready motherhood. Billy Bob and I want a family so much it hurts. I'd rather be pregnant with Billy Bob's baby than bank £10 million for a follow-up". Meantime a supposed list of all the dinosaurs in the upcoming Jurassic Park sequel has been found by 'Mike', here's the creatures that scored the VIP passes: Brachiosaurus, Male Velociraptor, Female Velociraptor, Spinosaurus, Ankylosaurus (the armadillo type guy), Tyranosaurus Rex, Compsognathus, Pachysoflasaurus, Parasaurolaphis, Stegasaurus, Baby Pteradon, Adult Pteradon, Triceratops, Ceratsaurus (Small T-Rex with horn on nose). Thanks also to TR Chrnoicles.

Image (C) Rainbow/Mirage

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: PlanetRacers has more captures from the short CGI TMNT pilot recently produced by Rainbow Studios, just click the thumbnail to see the rest. Meantime NinjaTurtles.Com did an extensive interview with co-creator Peter Laird about the new CGI TV show & movie in which he reveals writing teams are currently being assembled for both, whilst its unlikely any of the former TMNT voice talent will be involved. Will the TV series be as dark as the new proposed movie? "The tone that I am trying, and will continue to try to get into the TV series (and the movie), is as close as I can possibly get to the tone of the original Eastman and Laird Mirage TMNT comic books, with a seasoning of the first live-action TMNT movie. I fully expect that certain compromises will be made". What of John Woo's involvement? "I think that John Woo's involvement will be minimal, possibly as a producer. However, if he decided it would be fun to actually direct a CGI Turtle movie, I wouldn't argue!". Thanks to 'Movie Man' & Moviefans.de

Wet Work: 'Mr. Liquid Ape' has an update on the Carmen Electra film's current progress: "Carmen plays laura, a hard nosed girl with a heart of gold and love interest for Patrick Muldoon. Patrick and a new actor named Paul Sampson play foster brothers, Muldoon an assassin for the c.i.a and Sampson an assassin for the underworld. They team up to protect Judge Reinhold from the bad guys. It's a stylized action comedy along the lines of grosse point blank and the big hit. Sampson also co-wrote the pic with a new scribe named Matthew Goodman".

The Watcher (TV): "Buffy" Season Five SPOILERS AHEAD - Australian & UK viewers turn away now. The Observer reports that the Giles-lead spin-off of "Buffy" has been given the greenlight by the BBC. Anthony Stewart Head says "Joss has pitched it as a slightly more adult show. After Buffy died, I asked him whether there was much more for me to do and he said 'Look, you know, this show is not called The Watcher, it is about Buffy but how would you feel if there was a show called The Watcher and we made it in Britain'. I will still be playing Giles. But there will not necessarily be so many vampires around". Thanks to Moviehole

Reviews: Eighteen reviews, phew - its big and beautiful so go for it, kickin off with Moriarty's reviews on AICN about two mega anticipated sequels: