The premise is when a young man (Reeves) in Chicago tries to borrow money from a friend to pay for his gambling habit, the loan is on the condition that he coach a Little League baseball team from the Cabrini Green housing projects. The experience of giving young boys on the team guidance has a life-changing effect on him. Production has been scheduled to start on August 7th, 2000 in Chicago.

Also cast in Hardball is DB's Lonesome Dove co-star Diane Lane (playing a teacher), and John Hawkes, Lane's co-star in The Perfect Storm (playing Reeve's best friend).

This film is being directed by Brian Robbins, who moves to yet another sports movie after Varsity Blues (football - if you're a Brit like me, put an 'American' before it) and Ready to Rumble (wrestling).

Thanks goes to Jonni who found this excerpt about this film from Bergen.com:

PLAYING 'HARDBALL'

D.B. Sweeney, who voices the title role in Disney's "Dinosaur," is set to star opposite Keanu Reeves and Diane Lane in Paramount Pictures' "Hardball" for director Brian Robbins. The story centers on a down-on-his-luck gambler (Reeves) who finds redemption by coaching a team of boys from Chicago's housing projects. Sweeney will play the coach of the opposing team.

Sweeney has starred in such films as "Roommates," "Fire in the Sky," "Spawn," and "The Cutting Edge."

I think it would be an understatement to say this news is really exciting. It will be fantastic to see DB in another baseball film, and I hope he gets to show off those skills we saw in Eight Men Out.

On a Dinosaur note, those tie-in toys are starting to appear in Britain. The movie is scheduled to be released in October, and already there is a small stock of toys in the Disney store gradually starting to grow. Now we Brits will be able to join in the glee of picking up a plastic dinosaur-shaped drinks bottle and hear DB's voice come out of it (as I did, and hoped I didn't get too many strange looks)!

July 18th

What?! An update? Can you believe your eyes? Yes, I've managed to crawl out of the woodwork and get to work on this website. I really hate not being able to update on a regular basis anymore - nowadays it seems like I don't know when one week ends and the next begins (can you all believe it's almost August already)? I apologise I missed out on hyping DB's appearance in The Outer Limits, but from what I've read from on the Discussion Board you certainly didn't need reminding :) Hopefully we'll get that episode in the UK soon. Sky One are airing the '99 series, so I'm hoping they'll pick up the 2000 series too.

Not long ago I plugged The Blue Plate Diner, who was making a great attempt at keeping Strange Luck alive through a Virtual Second Season. Now there is another web site following suit, but this time for Harsh Realm. Anthony wrote to tell me about HR's Virtual Second Season at Pheonix Virtual Television. Again, it's fantastic to see that the internet can keep this show alive and the web site is definitely well worth a look.

Thanks goes to Lisa W. for letting me know about a new children's Disney computer game based on Dinosaur which includes DB's voice as Aladar. I saw a brief demo of the game on Showbiz CNN, and it sounded like special extra dialogue had been recorded for the game. It is due for release sometime in July, so it's probably worth checking out the computer games stores over the coming weeks (for your son/daughter/neice/nephew/godchild's benefit of course!). You can read more here.

Finally, it looks like DB got to practise his putting skills on Sunday at the John Elway Celebrity Golf Tournament in Broomfield, Colorado. People who got to watch or meet DB only had nice things to say about him (have we ever heard a bad thing said about DB?!), and said that he really played to the crowd.

June 4th

Right now I have so much to update with it's quite daunting! So I'm going to try and get through as much as possible as soon as possible - hopefully to make up for the obscene lack of updates recently! I recently heard from DB again, and says that he has spent a lot of time on Dinosaur publicity (there are a lot of new interviews to be read - as soon as I include them here!). Good news also came in the shape of a US release date for The Weekend - it should be out this September. He also confirmed he filmed an episode of The Outer Limits called 'The Grid'. Lisa and George have informed me it will be airing on Showtime July 14th 10:45 pm (not sure which time zone that is).

I am sure we are all extremely pleased about Dinosaur's success! It is wonderful to have a DB film receive so much publicity, and for something of such high quality to boot. Dinosaur will not be released in the UK until October, but the hype is already beginning (entertainment shows have begun to cover it's success and revolutionary techniques).

Thanks goes to Kerin who informed me The Weekend will be playing at the Seattle International Film Festival on June 7th and 8th. The website ww.seattlefilm.com has more information about the festival. On the 7th, the film plays at 7:15 pm at the Pacific Place theatre, and again on the 8th at 5:00 pm, same theatre. Tickets can be ordered on-line from the website, or by phone at 206.324.9996.

Like I said, I hope to be updating gradually over the next few days as I transfer interviews to HTML documents. I apologise for the lack of updates recently, but I seem to be running out of spare time. If only there were more hours in the day!

May 7th

It's now just under two weeks until the release of Dinosaur in the US! The pre-publicity is also continuing in the UK with the trailer being screened before Scream 3 (I guess they're going for a broad audience!). Thanks goes to Stephanie for letting me know DB will be talking about the film on E! in the US on the following dates: Sat May 13th 2:00pm, Sunday May 14th 3:00am, Monday May 15th 3:30am - but please check your local listings for confirmation.

Not exactly DB news, but related nonetheless is that we are joined by indie director Kevin Smith (Clerks, Chasing Amy, Mallrats, Dogma) in our love of The Cutting Edge. He has written an article for this month's Premiere magazine, which opens with the following paragraph (being somewhat of a fan of Smith's, I found this incredibly amusing to read - up to the point of laughing out loud on a train packed full of people :):

"I'd like to start off by pointing out that I'm as full as s*** as the next guy, and my opinions should be taken with a truckload of salt, as would be afforded those of a guy who's never really got into Battleship Potemkin, but who loved The Cutting Edge with the wild abandon one normally associates with the trailer-park set's fascination with professional wrestling."

April 23rd

As we gear up towards the release of Dinosaur, Disney has almost completed the official website (some parts are currently 'Coming Soon'). You'll need a Flash-enabled browser to view it, but it is a good site. It uses that wonderful score that also appeared in the trailers. Has anybody seen any interviews or press kit footage for this film yet on any entertainment shows? Please email me if you have, or if you have heard a show is going to be promoting the film soon. Thanks goes to Lisa for also finding this informative unofficial fan site: Disney's Dinosaur - An Animation Artist Movie Site. The latest Dinosaur trailer (the one where you can hear DB's voice, albeit briefly) is playing in front of Mission to Mars in the UK.

Finally, here is another poster for The Book of Stars. No news on a release date yet unfortunately. To read a synopsis of the film, visit this page at Showcase Entertainment's website.

March 26th

If you regularly read the Discussion Board, you'll have already read this update there. But if you don't I have posted that update here as well. There will be more to come soon...

If I lived in Marty McFly's universe, Mr. Strickland would be yelling "Slacker!" at me right about now :) I have to apologise for my lack of updates over the last month, but believe me, it's not out of laziness. You know those times when the days just blur together and you don't seem to have time to do anything? Well, I'm in one of those times at the moment. Nevertheless, I have been obtaining information ready to update today with. So, onto the news....

The biggest news at the moment is it appears DB is making another return to TV. George, who runs JessicaSteen.com has told me the actress (some of you may know her as the female NASA pilot in Armageddon) is currently filming an episode of The Outer Limits with DB Sweeney in Vancouver. No news as yet on what the story involves (but if the current track record of storylines is anything to go by, it's sure to be a good 'un - I really enjoy the show), but George estimates it will appear on TV in July on Showtime.

The next piece of news is regarding After Sex. This film received its premiere at the South By Southwest Film Festival in Austin, Texas this week. Ann, a visitor of this website, was lucky enough to get tickets to see the film. She has given it a glowing review, which you can read here. I hadn't realised it was a comedy, and am glad DB gets to use his comedic skills. I'm looking forward to seeing this one a lot. I hope this will get picked up by distributors ASAP (please, please, please...).

Yet more Dinosaur news. Another version of the trailer is now available to download from the official Disney website. And this one features voices! If you listen carefully, you can briefly hear DB's voice. The most noticable voice is that of Ossie Davis as the head lemur(?). It really does look like a fantastic film. I can't believe it's getting close to the release date, we've been following its' production for such a long time it seemed it would never come around.

Finally, as we near the re-airing of Harsh Realm (March 24th, FX channel Fridays 9 pm, midnight Sunday Pacific), Chris Carter has a little more to say about the whole fiasco. Thanks goes to Lisa, Carolyn and Cynthia:

Harsh Reality

X-Files producer Chris Carter is still smarting over the cancellation of his virtual-reality war drama, Harsh Realm, after only three episodes last fall. Perhaps it has something to do with the way Fox let the ax fall. "We had just had a huge party, with all the cast members very excited about the future, when we got the bad news," Carter says. "The whole thing was a giant disappointment after a tremendous amount of hard work." What went wrong? Ratings were mediocre, but Carter blames Fox. "We had done our part," he says. "We never got the promotion or support we needed. The show was launched at the wrong time with no thought or energy [from the network] behind it creatively or financially." Says a Fox spokesman: "We regret that we were not able to help Harsh Realm build the audience it deserves, but we are pleased that the series has found a home on FX." Beginning March 24 all nine episodes -- including six that never aired -- will be shown on the cable channel, Fox's sister network. And regardless of whether The X-Files comes back for another season, Carter still has business to do with Fox. He and his staff are working on a spin-off featuring the scraggly trio of conspiracy buffs known as the Lone Gunmen. "The problems last fall were a hiccup," Carter says. "We're past that. But I'm going to make sure that when I stick my neck out again, we're going to need some kind of commitment [from Fox] -- some insurance if we're going to work this hard."

February 28th 2000

Would you love to know what Chance Harper is getting up to? Are you the type that imagine what would have happened in the second series of Strange Luck? Well you now have a chance to find out, of sorts. The Blue Plate Diner is running a Virtual Second Season of Strange Luck, with episodes written by long-running fans of the series (it's been almost four years since it ended, but people still love it - we all know how Fox loves to keep great shows on the air ;). It is launching tomorrow, and you can follow this link to read a preview. Azar who runs the site is also looking for volunteers to help with episodes, so if there are any budding screen writers out there you can send your stories to her at azarsuerte@hotmail.com.

February 24th 2000

I've finally got a moment to some much needed updating! I've only got a little news to report, but that's better than nothing considering my current updates record ;) Lisa has let me know that Introducing Dorothy Dandridge is now available to rent at Blockbuster. I have also seen it to purchase on DVD, but I'm not sure about retail video.

More Dinosaur news. The Imdb has now got more detailed listings, and has added character names. The name of DB's dino is Aladar. Just like in the States, the trailer for Dinosaur is playing before Toy Story 2 in the UK, so not only do you get to watch the wonderful film but you get to see a sneak preview of the prehistoric flick. I had only thought I would see the trailer available on the internet (with the rock music halfway through), but this is at least three minutes footage of the film. It really hurt when my jaw hit the floor. It looks absolutely amazing. I was like, "DB Sweeney is involved with this?! What a great choice!" The way the computer animated dinosaurs fit in with the live-action background is superb, the dust from the running triceratops, the bouncing log the egg-stealing dino runs along.... I hope the music that is used with it is the actual score as it fits so well. And wasn't that one of the lemurs we see at the end peeking into the egg shell? This movie (like we need to be told) will be huge - especially judging by the reaction of the kids in the theatre - I heard a lot of, "Mummy, can we go and see that?!" It will be fantastic if these characters are just as loveable as Woody, Buzz and the TS gang (by the way Brit readers who've seen Toy Story 2, if you missed the Christmas special about it, that's Andi Peters as the voice of Baggage Handler #2!)

January 30th 2000

Thanks goes to Lisa for picking up this information regarding Harsh Realm (taken from Harsh Realm Unplugged's board), which could pretty funny. It looks like the show may be making a cameo in The X-Files....:

My sources have told me that there will be a scene from Harsh Realm on the next episode of The X-Files! The episode will be aired two weeks from now, this weeks episode is a rerun of the the Millenuim-X-Files crossover, "Millenium" (Too bad they canceled that show, it was great and would have probably ended this season anyway). The episode is called "Sein Und Zeit" (German for "Being And Time") and will mark the return of the mythology arc. The episode is a two-parter (The second episode is called "Aliatope") and is about the kidnapping of a little girl and the apparen t suicide of Mulder's Mom. Anyway, during the investigation, Mulder talks to the dad of the little girl and he says that when he found out his daughter was missing, he was whatching this new show he had never seen before and he thought it was pretty good. Then we see a shot of the TV and footage from Harsh Realm. I still haven't found out what the episode is, but we'll know soon enougth. Now remember, two weeks from now on The X-Files.

Still on Harsh Realm, thanks goes to Cynthia for letting me know about the show's inclusion in E! Online's Top Ten Cancelled Shows. Here's what they had to say about HR:

Premiered: October 8, 1999
Last aired: October 22, 1999
How'd you like to be on the receiving end in this pitch meeting: It's not quite sci-fi, not quite drama, not quite futuristic, but it all takes
place inside a government-created computer game that people jump into and live (or die) within?
Try being the marketing exec whose job is to boil that down into a snappy billboard promo--even if it is created by X-Files helmer Chris Carter.
Based loosely on an obscure, early-'90s comic book, Realm starred Scott Bairstow (Party of Five) and D.B. Sweeney as two former military men sent inside the game to thwart the efforts of Omar Santiago (Terry O'Quinn), a soldier-turned-dictator who created his own antiestablishment establishment within the government-created game.
A bit convoluted, yes but an alternate world rife with possibilities for Carter's trademark storytelling. It featured a rotating cast of characters and a buddy-cop relationship between Bairstow and Sweeney.
And it worked--dark, twisted, funny and thoroughly engrossing. Unfortunately, with a messy premise that demanded some concentration on the viewer's part, a Friday-night time slot--a tough spot for any series that isn't blatantly TGIF-ish--and a new Fox schedule that was largely a dud, it was yanked after three episodes.
In the end, what Carter predicted would be a "good, bumpy ride" proved only half true.

Finally, congratulations should go to Halle Berry, who won the Best Actress in a Mini Series Golden Globe for Introducing Dorothy Dandridge. She certainly deserves it.

January 16th 2000

I would like to thank the many fans who sent me the information regarding the official 'return' of Harsh Realm. The news was reported in a number of places, including Variety (note it mentions there are nine episodes to be aired, compared to the previously mentioned eight):

The FX cable channel has acquired exclusive TV rights to "Harsh Realm," the sci-fi series that Fox canceled in October after only three airings. FX purchased the rights to all nine episodes of the low-rated Chris Carter series from sister company Twentieth Television, and plans to begin airing them in primetime in mid-March. No timeslot has been determined. While FX officials declined comment, sources said that if ''Realm'' takes off in the ratings, there is a possibility that the network would produce new episodes of the show. But, considering the prohibitive cost of such an undertaking, it is highly unlikely. "Harsh Realm" stars Scott Bairstow as a young military officer who tests out a top secret computer simulation known as Harsh Realm. FX also airs two other Carter-produced series, ''The X-Files'' and "Millennium".

January 6th 2000

The world didn't end, and the Millenium Bug didn't strike (as much as everyone thought it would at least), so begins another year of keeping everyone up to date with the projects DB's working on. Will The Weekend and The Book of Stars finally get a wide release? The following news could well answer that: A big thank you goes to Claudia for telling me about the Sarasota Film Festival. Set to begin January 12th in Florida, the festival will screen many features, documentaries and the like, as well as panel discussions. The Book of Stars and The Weekend are due to be screened during the festival, the latter will have a Q&A with guest stars following the screening as well as an after-show party. DB Sweeney is expected to attend this festival, and the Q&A. You can purchase tickets for this particular event for $100, as well tickets for the rest of the screenings. Following are more details about the festival, for any of you lucky Floridians who fancy taking advantage of this festival:

January 13

Theatre 8 -
3:00 The Book of Stars

January 15

Theatre 8
7:30 The Book of Stars w/ D.B. Sweeney

Theatre 10
6:00 The Weekend w/ Q&A

Theatre 11
6:00 The Weekend

Special Event

· The Weekend with Gena Rowlands, Brooke Shields, D.B. Sweeney, Brian Skeet (Director), Ian Benson (Producer)
· Based on the novel by Peter Cameron, three friends gather on the anniversary of the death of a man who was related to them all by either blood or love. Q&A with guest stars follows screening.
· Screening 6:30
· -After party hosted by David and Myrna Band immediately following.
· 4100 Flamingo Avenue
· *Co-chairs are David and Myrna Band
· Tickets are $100/ea

January 13

Theatre 8 -
3:00 The Book of Stars

If you would like to know more, please visit the website. Anyone who does attend the festival, please let me know your thoughts on the films so I can share them with the rest of the fans.

Thanks goes to Lisa for providing me with information on the comeback of Harsh Realm (from Cinescape Online):

Well, for a short time, anyway. A reliable tipster reports that a deal has been struck to air the first eight episodes of the short-lived Chris Carter show on FX in March. Only three shows were broadcast before Fox pulled the plug on the fledgling series.
In a related story, Fox is now offering a screen credit to James D. Hudnall & Andrew Paquette, creators of the original Harsh Realm comic book series, the inspiration for Chris Carter's Harsh Realm.
Fans as well as cast and crew hope this spells a second chance for the nearly untried series.