Star Wars fans can get excited again (if you aren’t already thanks to Star Wars: The Clone Wars) with BioWare and LucasArts announcing yesterday news that they are working on a new Star Wars MMORPG. But this time, instead of being related to Star Wars Galaxies, it’ll be set in the massively popular universe of Knights of the Old Republic.

“It’s a whole galaxy. It’s a galaxy of Star Wars,” said Ray Muzyka, CEO of BioWare. “It’s going to take your gaming experience to a higher level.”

OK, well that’s all good and well, but “¦ why will it do that?

Well, according to the developers of the game, players will not be stuck on one planet, but will be able to traverse an entire Star Wars universe, with two factions to choose from so far announced: the Galactic Republic and the Sith Empire.

Never have I been as happy to see a half-hearted attempt at a video game cinematic adaptation debut as I was when I saw that Max Payne had knocked Beverly Hills Chihuahua off the top spot.

Starring Mark Wahlberg, Max Payne opened this weekend in the U.S. at number 1 with a respectable — given the time of year it is — $18 million. Based on the video game of the same name, the movie took a different, more ethereal approach to a game that was, for all intents and purposes, a fantastic shoot-em-up.

Sadly, Beverly Hills Chihuahua took second spot, showing once again that no matter how bad a movie is there will still be people who want to see it. Over and over and over and”¦ It managed to pull in $11.2 million this weekend, only just ahead of The Secret Life of Bees, which took third spot and $11 million. I’m not sure what it’s about, but it has Dakota Fanning in it, along with Queen Latifah and Paul Bettany, so I might go see it anyway.

Brisingr
Written by Christopher Paolini
Random House/Knopf Books
Release date: September 19, 2008

I feel as if I should have had this review written and published it a week ago, and that had been the intent. I had greatly anticipated the arrival of Brisingr, the third installment in Christopher Paolini‘s Inheritance Cycle, having enjoyed the first two quite a bit. But it seems that in the past couple of years since I first read his first two books — Eragon and Eldest — my ability to judge good writing has grown.

So, no, this is not going to be a glowing recommendation of Brisingr.

But I have to make one thing very clear from the outset: Paolini has created a fascinating story. The problem is, he just can’t write all that well. And as a result, the enjoyment of the book was severely punished by how hard it was to struggle through the inept form the story took.

Whether it’s the fact that the movie-gods have an unhealthy obsession with chihuahua’s or moviegoers have just gotten sick of seeing good movies, Beverly Hills Chihuahua has once again taken top spot at the box office this weekend.

Starring the voice talents of such luminaries as Andy Garcia, Cheech Marin, Edward James Olmos , and Jamie Lee Curtis, not to mention Drew Barrymore, the movie once again nabbed number one with a total take of $17.5 million.

Spots two and three went to two newcomers, thankfully. Quarantine managed itself $14.2 million and Body of Lies an equally respectful $13.1 million.

After the success of Marvel’s reboot of the Hulk in The Incredible Hulk, 20th Century Fox is apparently “seriously” looking at rebooting another of their controlled properties, Daredevil.

In an interview with IESB, Fox co-chairman Tom Rothman said that “a Daredevil, to use your words, reboot, is something we are thinking very seriously about.”

Apparently Fox has all the necessary rights to make a reboot of the film, but Rothman believes that what Daredevil needs to make it off the ground as a reboot is “a director, honestly, who has a genuine vision.”