The Lord of the Rings: At 3:00 AM EST (12:00 AM PST), Internet fans around the world received their virst video glimpse of The Lord of the Rings film when the first teaser trailer was unveiled on the Internet. Taken from the much-talked about ShoWest footage (cut down to two minutes), the teaser begins with a brief commentary from both director Peter Jackson and star Elijah Wood. Some behind the scenes clips were shown, along with actual footage from the movies. Finally, the trailer ends with the release dates for The Fellowship of the Ring (opening Christmas 2001), The Two Towers (opening Christmas 2002), and the third film, The Return of the King. Several of the stars (Liv Tyler, Elijah Wood, etc..) can be seen in the trailer and the credits end with names such as Cate Blanchett. I would like to thank New Line Cinema for providing Cinema Confidential with the "teaser images" throughout the week.

"Lord of the Rings" Teaser Trailer (Various Sizes)

Hardball: Paramount Pictures has brought on Keanu Reeves to star as a baseball coach in this drama about an inner-city Little League baseball team to be directed by Brian Robbins (Ready to Rumble). Based on the Daniel Coyle book ``Hardball: A Season in the Projects,'' the story is being adapted by screenwriter John Gatins (Varsity Blues). In the film, Reeves will play an aimless young man who is scalping tickets, gambling and drinking while his friends are settling down and making money at good jobs. When he tries for the umpteenth time to borrow money from a friend, the pal makes the loan conditional on the guy coaching a Little League team from the Cabrini Green housing projects in Chicago, a squad that his brokerage house is sponsoring. The man is transformed by mentoring the kids and finds salvation through the experience. Keanu Reeves wishes to take on another project before he starts his long, 250-day shoot for The Matrix 2 & 3.

Men in Black 2: For those of you expecting Will Smith, Tommy Lee Jones, or Linda Florentino to sport those sunglasses and black suits again, don't count on it for the time being. Florentino, in an interview with Cinescape, state that nothing is planned for the forseeable future. "Let's face it. I'm the only original cast member anyone can afford. Separately, Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones' deals would amount to 105 percent of the budget. I think we can afford maybe one measly alien after they're paid." Still, the actress does offer up a bit of hope, saying, "I've been invited to open the Universal theme park [Men in Black] ride soon. Will is definitely going. I think that might be an indication that a sequel is a possibility."

Spider-Man: Let this be this "stinker" of the day...Ain't it Cool News reports that Jude Law has been signed on to star as Peter Parker in the Spider-Man film. I report this scoop with great caution, considering it does not seem that plausible. But keep in mind that AICN was the first to break that Sam Raimi would come on-board as director...

Agent Joe: The Hollywood Reporter reports that Fox 2000 has picked up a project being described as "Men in Black" meets "American Beauty." The script is penned by Adam Kualkow' and will be produced by Gil Netter (A Walk in the Clouds). The script tells how "two worlds collide when a government assassin moves to the suburbs and awakens to his humanity through meeting a single mom and her teenage son."

Space Cowboys: Also from Cinescape today are some first pictures from Universal's Space Cowboys starring Clint Eastwood and Tommy Lee Jones. Click on the image to the left to access Cinescape's page...you may also go to http://www.spacecowboys.net for any additional information.