Chicago Tribune television critic Maureen Ryan has done a follow-up piece on Cinematical's story about the decision of HBO to scrap the series-ending Deadwood movies it promised fans after the show's abrupt termination. Ryan, crediting Cinematical as a source in her article, contacted representatives at the network about the move and got a long-winded response. Here's the relevant portion: "There are no current plans to make the movies," the HBO publicist admits, before adding a never-say-never caveat. "The dismantling of the 1878 set is irrelevant because Milch has indicated that the story for a Deadwood movie would resume after the Deadwood floods and fires, which changed the face of the first settlement." As Hugo Jarry would say, the statement continues ... "HBO has renewed its deal with David Milch, who is currently developing another series for the network. It's a drama set in the New York police department during the 1970s, when the Knapp Commission was formed to ferret out corruption in the force."

In other words, 'please stop thinking about Deadwood and start thinking about Milch's new show'. And if you're holding on to that sliver of hope they tossed out, I've got a bridge to sell you. I would consider it unlikely in the extreme that, having dismantled the old show sets, HBO would shell out for new ones for any reason, although that's just a layman's speculation. In conclusion, I'll repeat what I said earlier: at this point, it's a Deadwood theatrical film or bust. If Sex and the City can get a theatrical film, why in the world wouldn't a show that's actually good get one?

If I were going to pitch Susan Cooper's kid-lit fantasy series, The Dark is Rising, to a room full of studio execs, I'd proceed as follows: "Listen, guys. I'm not gonna lie. This is gonna be a real challenge. These books are not only noticeably dated from a sci-fi/fantasy fan's perspective, but also remarkably insular and plotty, and not even the good kind of plotty. They aren't 'every chapter is a new adventure' plotty, but more like a catalog of meaningless busywork-tasks the hero has to perform. The books remind me of a third-rate Atari 2600 game, in which the hero has some Arthurian pedigree that's spelled out in the booklet, but on-screen he's just a bland avatar who has to collect six out of nine sacred talismans and place them in the right spots on the map, in order to thwart the 'forces of darkness.' That's all this series amounts to, but I wouldn't be pitching this to you if I didn't see some ways we can get around that stuff. So allow me to proceed.

We're going to adapt the second book in the series, for two reasons: first, because it's called The Dark is Rising, which will make a cool title, but also because it contains an intriguing substrata. The main character, Will Stanton, is a 14 year-old wizard who is struggling with puberty just as he's discovering his wizarding ways. The bad guys know this, so they send a witch to tempt him, in the form of a hot, older girl. In the book, this is hardly more than a footnote and most of the plot is given over to the young wizard learning his craft from an old wizard, but that's just bo-ring. We're going to downsize that angle considerably and make the witch subplot the A-story. I'm envisioning a tragic first-love saga between this kid who doesn't know any better, and this more experienced girl who is allied with the forces of evil, but isn't totally evil to the core. There's a sort of Anakin Skywalker quality to her, which a good script will heighten. With me so far? Good.

You never know quite what you're going to get with Ian McShane, interview-wise. Sometimes he's playfully grumpy, as he was with some journalists who visited the set of The Seeker: The Dark is Rising earlier this year. "What made you want to do this film?" they asked. "The check," he replied. Other times, he's relaxed and jovial, as he was back in 2006 when I sat in on his roundtables for Woody Allen's Scoop. He always comes across as a straight-shooter, and I don't think it would be tough to get him to go off-message, but mostly he just wants to be in and out of press situations with little fuss, it seems. That was the case when he agreed to speak with Cinematical late last week about his role as Merriman Lyon in Seeker. When the time came for our appointment, I got a call from McShane's handler, telling me the big guy had decided to put off our call in favor of a quick lunch, so when he finally called a half-hour later, it seemed like the place to start.

Cinematical: So, how was lunch? What'd you have?

IM: Ha! I don't know what it was. I ordered some artichoke and it came up ... it's very good if you put it across pasta ... and buffalo wings, which were so hot I must have put a pound of vinegar on them, God knows what. Anyway! Enough of lunch. I'm fine. I've just had some melon and I'm having a coffee and I'm talking to you. How are you?

Cinematical: I'm good, thanks. So it's all press for you today, then?

IM: Yeah, I've done the junket. So far, we've done all the TV stuff. Now I'm doing the online, and some telephone stuff, and I'll be through by about five.

Cinematical: I have to start by asking you about the status of the Deadwood movies. I wish I could think of a fresh way to ask, but there it is. Has that ship sailed?

IM: You might be onto a thing there. I just got a call on Friday from ... a dear friend of mine, who told me that they're packing up the ranch. They're dismantling the ranch and taking the stuff out. That ship is gonna sail. I think with the uncertainty of the future, because of this possible strike next year, the writers and the actors, there was no chance of doing it before next May or June anyway, because I'm committed to other things. So I think it's ... Bonsoir, Deadwood.

Two days after Cinematical broke the news of HBO discarding plans for a pair of TV movies to send the popular Deadwood series off in style, the series regulars have started to get wind of the move, and no surprise, they aren't happy about it. Jim Beaver, who played the luckless prospector Ellsworth on the show, spoke with Remote Access and had this to say: "I saw the McShane quote. I don't doubt it. I have no insight or special knowledge, but my sense of things is that it's over ... My gut tells me that if the movies or a fourth season were going to be made, the announcement would have already been made. That's just my gut. But Ian's remarks don't surprise me in the least."

Remote Access also got in touch with W. Earl Brown, who played Dan Dority, Al Swearengen's sidekick for three seasons, and he had this to say: "I called Ian, it seems that it's true -- the sets are being dismantled ... I guess the horse is dead." He went on to say that the timing makes sense, because HBO's lease for the sets is about to expire anyway, but nevertheless, he wants his props back. "I called both producers this morning about getting the Dority hat, knife and gun belt," Brown said. "I haven't heard back from either. Once I talk to either of them, I'll know where things stand. But I'm figuring that it's over." He also compared the Deadwood ending to the way The Sopranos went out, saying that the latter was "either great or awful (depending on one's interpretation of it) but at least it got people talking. Deadwood -- it just stopped. Just stopped. It's like never finding out that 'Rosebud' was his sled or that Darth was Luke's father. F*ck."

Oh, well -- as McShane said, that ship is sailing, and nothing can be done about it. However, given the way 3:10 to Yuma and The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford have been positively received by critics and the public, is a theatrical film out of the question? I can't imagine why it would be.

Yeah, I'm not happy about it either. Earlier today, I got a call from Ian McShane to talk about his new family fantasy movie, The Dark is Rising, and I asked him the big question Deadwood fans have been wanting to know for a while now -- was HBO just blowing smoke with its promise to wrap up the series with a couple of made-for-TV movies? Well, the answer is yes, McShane revealed to us. "I just got a call on Friday from ... a dear friend of mine, who told me that they're packing up the ranch," McShane said. "They're dismantling the ranch and taking the stuff out. That ship is gonna sail. Bonsoir, Deadwood." He went on to say that even if the movies were happening, there would be the strike to consider, and on top of that, he's committed to a filming schedule that would prevent him from doing them anytime before late next year anyway.

I told McShane that as a fan, I felt completely cheated by this move on HBO's part. "You feel cheated? Imagine how I feel!" he replied. "We all do. We all do. It was one of those one-off jobs that you do which has got an extraordinary creative brain behind it, and it kept getting better, and the actors were great. It was a fabulous place to be and work. It was a workshop cum theater cum film. It was an extraordinary time. But everything has to come to an end, babe." So, there you have it.

One of the most highly anticipated films of the fall is Fox Walden's adaptation of The Dark is Rising, the popular young adult fantasy adventure first published in 1973. The second installment in a five-book series by author Susan Cooper, the book follows a young hero named Will Stanton, who wakes up on his 11th birthday to find that he has traveled many years back in time. This is his introduction to an ancient, ongoing war between the forces of The Light and The Dark -- a war in which he's been fated by birth to be a central figure. The story is drenched in Old English/Arthurian influences -- there are Grail cups, talismans and magical swords galore -- and there's more than enough action to make for a rousing, special-effects heavy big-screen adventure, which seems to be what we're in store for.

One of the more memorable characters introduced in the book is Maggie Barnes, a seemingly sweet young farmgirl who the heroes quickly discover is actually something quite different. Playing Maggie in the movie version is Amelia Warner, an up and coming 25-year old British actress who you may remember as Una Flux in the 2005 Charlize Theron movie Aeon Flux. The early word on The Dark is Rising is that Amelia's performance is going to be one of the major selling points, although exactly how much her character has been altered from page to screen is being kept top secret. The picture you see above, which was released to Cinematical two days ago, is one of the very first of her character. I recently called up Amelia in Los Angeles to talk to her about the project, who she thinks will enjoy it, and where she goes from here in her career.

Have you seen a cut of the movie yet? And what's your sense of the overall vibe, in terms of how it's been put together? Sort of a Lord of the Rings? Harry Potter?

AW: I haven't seen it. We only finished about two weeks ago, and yeah, I guess you could kind of make comparisons to stuff like Lord of the Rings and stuff like The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe, because it has those fantasy elements to it, and it's an adventure and there's quite a lot of action. It's kind of following a boy who discovers that he has what's almost like a quest that he has to complete. It's about him and him being tested along the way. All of those kinds of films or books, there's always that kind of struggle between good and bad and the light and the dark. Good and evil. This film is definitely ... that's what it's about. It's been going on for ages and ages and across time. There's been this struggle between good and bad. When the film starts, the dark is rising and Will Stanton, who is the chosen boy, can help the light fight them.

I read the books a long, long time ago, and I remember your character, Maggie Barnes being something of a minor character -- are they taking the female role and beefing it up?

AW: I don't know, I haven't read the books! I started to read the book and to be honest, the script is so different -- there's been a lot of changes -- that I almost found it confusing. I'm going to read it after I finish. I haven't done it yet, but I'm planning on doing it.

Well, in the book she's something other than a traditional romantic interest -- what can you tell me about how she's portrayed?

AW: I'm not really allowed to say very much about her -- she's kind of like a mystery. You don't really know what side she falls on, and in the story, she appears to be a new girl at the school. The character of Will sees her in the village and kind of develops a crush on her, and she's just kind of lingering around. But she's there to look after Will and to make sure that nothing bad happens to him, and she's going to protect him.

Late last week, Fox Walden, the new family-oriented off-shoot of 20th Century Fox, sent me over this batch of pics from The Dark is Rising, which is currently filming in Romania. Based on the Arthurian-style fantasy book series by Susan Cooper, the story follows the adventures of a boy who learns that he is the last of a group of immortals who must confront forces of evil and become a great warrior. This first film adaptation is being directed by David Cunningham and prepped for a fall 2007 release, and will presumably be the start of an entire series if things go well at the box office. Fox's answer to the Narnia franchise, or something like that. The Dark is Rising is actually the title of the second book in the series. Before it comes Over Sea, Under Stone and after it comes Greenwitch, The Grey King and Silver on the Tree, so they certainly won't run out of stories to tell anytime in the next decade.

A cast is falling into place for the project that will bring Susan Cooper's The Dark Is Rising series of fantasy books to the big screen. Deadwood's lovable Al Swearengen (Ian McShane) will star, along with Frances Conroy and Alexander Ludwig. First published in the 60s and 70s, the series chronicles a struggle between two opposing forces, known simply as The Light and The Dark. The main character is a boy who learns that he is endowed with special powers that will allow him to do battle against The Dark and must accept training from an old mentor. (Did George Lucas pay someone royalties for this?)

McShane will star as Merriman Lyon, one of the 'Old Ones' who serves as the kid's mentor. The film will be one of the first to be handled under a new joint-venture between 20th Century Fox and Walden Media, and the team bringing it to the big screen includes director David Cunningham, previously known for helming the Path to 9/11 for television, screenwriter John Hodge, who wrote Trainspotting and A Life Less Ordinary (my favorite movie) and producer Marc Platt, whose credits include Legally Blonde, Legally Blonde 2, and the upcoming Untitled Kirsten Dunst Project.

Despite garnering as much acclaim as a television show can possibly garner, The Sopranos has yet to see its cast members emerge as Hollywood players. Sure, Jim Gandolfini has the odd project lined up here and there, but many of the show's supporting actors got caught up early on in a weird loop of unintentionally hilarious Soprano rip-off movies, while others, like Drea De Matteo and Michael Imperioli, are snorkeling in a sea of bad television and worse. Meanwhile, the cast of a far superior show that HBO treats like a red-headed stepchild -- Deadwood -- is pretty much taking over Hollywood in 2007. If you're a fan of the show, you've probably already noticed your favorite players popping up in recent films like Miami Vice and Scoop. More Deadwood-approved fare such as The Wicker Man and Hollywoodland is opening in the next couple of weeks, and that's just the beginning. I count over 20 major, buzzed-about, A-list type films slated to open between now and the end of 2007 that will feature Deadwood denizens.

Since its too early to tell how substantial many of these parts will be -- Robin Weigert, who channels the drunken pistoleer Calamity Jane, has admittedly small roles in upcoming films like The Good German and Things We Lost in the Fire -- I'm confining this rundown to the projects that you might say are among the most buzz-worthy. So here's a selective preview of where to look for your favorite soon-to-be-unemployed Deadwood thespians. Enjoy, hoopleheads.

No Country for Old Men – This hotly anticipated Coen Brothers adaptation of Cormac McCarthy's violent Western thriller [with almost no coherent punctuation] about a cowboy versus a gang of drug dealers will feature Deadwood's resident changeling, Garret Dillahunt. After playing the droop-eyed, illiterate assassin of Wild Bill Hickok in the first season, Dillahunt made a stealthy return to Deadwood in season two as the bowler-wearing dandy and rank amateur prostitute murderer Mr. Wolcott. He's been conspicuously missing in action for season three so far and with only two episodes left to go, his return is not looking likely. Guess we'll have to wait for those miniseries things. In No Country, he plays a character named Wendell, whose very name sounds intriguingly Coen-esque. This one should be good.

His Dark Materials: The Golden Compass – This is the only Ian McShane title I'm including in the list, since he already has seven films scheduled between now and the end of 2007. Needless to say, his role as the armor-plated blacksmith polar bear Iorek in the first part of Philip Pullman's dark trilogy about daemons and deicide should make for some of the most interesting voicework to come down the pike in a while. Watch for a hopefully awesome polar bear duel to the death between Iorek and Bear King Iofur. I'm personally mystified as to how this trilogy will survive the adaptation to film in the first place. Actually, I'm not -- word is they've completely scrubbed that little plot point about the children breaking into heaven and killing God.