Synopsis
One of the most popular independent comic books of its decade was transformed into this dark, bloody adventure intended to launch a profitable superhero franchise. Michael Jai White stars as Al Simmons, a corrupt assassin betrayed and murdered by his evil government supervisor, Jason Wynn (Martin Sheen). Sent to Hell, Simmons is offered a chance to return to the earthly plane if he will become a "Hellspawn" ("Spawn" for short), one of many super-powered creatures assigned to encourage living souls along the path to damnation. Simmons hastily agrees to this deal and becomes a twisted, scarred version of his former self, living in a dingy alleyway, with no hope of regaining his life, as several years have passed and his wife Wanda (Theresa Randle) has married his best friend, Terry Fitzgerald (D.B. Sweeney). Despite the best efforts of his mentor, a demonic clown (John Leguizamo), Spawn performs mostly heroic acts, though he is not above seeking revenge on Wynn. Despite the film's middling box office take, plans for a sequel were announced. The same summer that Spawn was released, the comic was also the basis of a well-received cable TV series.
What Critics Say
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Movie News
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Super Bowl Spawns Super Ratings for CBS
HOLLYWOOD, Jan. 31, 2001 -- Much like Super Bowl XXXV, last week's Nielsen race was a blowout.
According to Nielsen Media Research, for the week of Jan. 22 - 28, the Eye Network snagged a total-viewer average of 21.3 million, with Sunday's Super Bowl raking in a whopping 84.3 million. The premiere of "Survivor: The Australian Outback" brought in 45.3 million -- better than industry analysts expected.
The CBS surge last week decreased ABC's established margin of dominance over the other networks: CBS had trailed ABC by 12%; now, CBS trails by only 6%, according to Nielsen.
And CBS isn't stopping there.
In addition to the network's one-two punch on Super Bowl Sunday, the CBS enjoyed curiously high ratings later in the week, as the Monday sitcoms "Everybody Loves Raymond," "King of Queens" and "Yes, Dear" saw their best ratings to date. Yes, shameless pluggin
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NEWSMAKERS: Elvis Spawn to Wed (Again)!
SANTA MONICA, Calif., Feb. 2, 2000 -- It's very hard to top Michael Jackson, but Lisa Marie Presley seems to think she's done it.
Elvis' daughter, who married Jackson in May 1994 (and divorced him 20 months later), will marry again -- this time to rock singer John Oszajea, her spokesman, Paul Bloch, said Tuesday. The happy couple met in May and became engaged just before Christmas.
The story goes that Oszajea, 25, first went to Presley's mother, Priscilla Presley, to ask for her daughter's hand in marriage. After receiving her blessing, Oszajea formally proposed to Presley, 32.
For those of you keeping track, this will be Lisa's third go with a musician -- first husband Danny Keough, then the Gloved One, now Oszajea (due to release his first album this year).
All this rocker influence is finally rubbing off on her: Lisa Marie's currently recording her firs