Scottish born actor Michael Sheard has died at the age of 65. His agent said he had cancer and died at home on the Isle of Wight.

You will probably remember Michael Sheard best as the actor who played Admiral Ozzel in The Empire Strikes Back. He can also be seen in Raiders of the Lost Ark but will be best remembered to the Indyfans as the actor who played Adolf Hitler in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. The people in the UK will also know Sheard well from his role as teacher Mr Bronson in the long-running children's TV drama Grange Hill in the 1980s.

You can read more on Michael Sheard's life and death at MSN News and BBC News. TheRaider.net also had an interview with Mr. Sheard two years ago which you can still read here. My thoughts are with his family and friends.

Thanks to Eric Rothn Brett Hopkins and Bill Roberts for letting me know.

Ain't It Cool News reported today that Steven Spielberg has taken over as producer for a remake of the classic '50s When Worlds Collide film for Paramount Pictures. According to Variety, Spielberg is replacing Stephen Sommers who left the project in order to do a film called A Night at the Museum about a museum full of ancient critters that come to life and wreck havoc upon a big city.

Spielberg is only producing When Worlds Collide. He's not the director, though it's unknown at the moment who will direct the film. Personally, I see no danger for Spielberg's upcoming Indiana Jones IV, also for Paramount Pictures.

Head over to AICN for more information.

Thanks to Brett Hopkins for the news.

The official Indiana Jones site has been updated with a fantastic new feature that shows the lost Shanghai sequence originally scripted for Raiders of the Lost Ark in storyboard form. These storyboards have never been published before, and offer a rare glimpse into how this scene was shaping up for the cameras before ultimately being cut from the script.

Most Indy fans can easily tell you how the second film in the series, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, opens... What many fans may not know, however, is that a sequence very similar to this was originally scripted for Doom's predecessor, Raiders of the Lost Ark.

Click here to read the lost screenplay pages and view all 90 storyboards. The official IndianaJones.com has really outdone itself this time!

Actress Karen Allen, also known as Marion Ravenwood in Raiders of the Lost Ark, has been confirmed as a guest at the upcoming Collectormania 8.
The eighth Collectormania convention will take place from Friday, September 30th, to Sunday, October 2nd, in Buckinghamshire, UK.

Visit the official Collectormania 8 website for more information.

Thanks to 'Skylover' for letting us know.

Eric Zala has forwarded me a list of all upcoming confirmed screenings of their film Raiders of the Lost Ark: The Adaptation for the rest of 2005 and beginning of 2006:

• Oxford, MS Film Festival (Sept. 8, 2005)
  In attendance: Chris Strompolos & Eric Zala
  www.oxfordfilmfest.com

• Seattle, Northwest Film Forum (Oct. 24, 2005)
  In attendance: Eric Zala
  www.nwfilmforum.org
  (As of 8/15, website not updated to reflect screening yet)

• Worcester, MA (Nov. 8-9, 2005)
  In attendance: Chris Strompolos & Eric Zala
  www.massbayfilmproject.org
  (As of 8/15, website not updated to reflect screening yet)

• Sydney, Australia (Nov. 23-28, 2005)
  In attendance: Chris Strompolos
  www.popcorntaxi.com.au
  (As of 8/15, website not updated to reflect screening yet)

• Wexner Center for the Arts in Columbus, Ohio (Dec. 2-3, 2005)
  In attendance: Chris Strompolos & Eric Zala
  www.wexarts.org
  (As of 8/15, website not updated to reflect screening yet)

• Barrie Film Festival, Ontario (Feb. 15, 2006)
  In attendance: Chris Strompolos & Eric Zala
  www.barriefilmfestival.ca
  (As of 8/15, website not updated to reflect screening yet)

Visit our new Raiders: The Adaptation pages for more information on this cult film.
There may be a few festivals that are tentative now that may become confirmed. So Stay tuned!

Special thanks to Eric Zala for the news!

Variety reported that Lucasfilm has hired a new man as head of their marketing. Joshua Katz, an exec with experience in numerous cable network rebranding campaigns, will carry the title of vice president at Lucasfilm and report to senior VP Jim Ward.

He will head all global marketing initiatives, including the still-anticipated Indiana Jones IV, and the 30th anniversaries of ILM and Star Wars in 2007. But Katz confirmed that his appointment is part of the company's ongoing shift toward TV production (Daily Variety, Aug. 2).

Katz said that while he expects there will still be Lucasfilm features, including Indy IV and Lucas' future projects, "We have to stop being just a movie studio and have to move to being a television and movie studio."

Head over to Variety to read the full story.