HOLLYWOOD - Y2K's top grossing film "Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas" has pocketed another $60 million in the bank.
And this time, the money is coming from a massive TV deal.
Daily Variety reports that ABC and the Disney Channel have inked a network broadcast deal for the Jim Carrey holiday starrer for $60 million. The two tube channels will share the rights to the movie for a 10-year period.
But before going to ABC and Disney, "The Grinch" will first go to Starz! Pay TV network via the pay-per-view cycle, meaning that the non-pay network broadcast of the film will likely happen in the fall of 2004.
ANOTHER AGENT IS OUT THERE: The files on "The X-Files" is definitely getting bigger. After the introduction of Robert Patrick to fill in for part-timer David Duchovny, the Fox sci-fi staple will be adding Annabeth Gish (who you might remember from "Mystic Pizza") as another FBI agent in the mix.
Gish will join the series in a three-episode plotline this season wherein her still-unnamed character will be enlisted by agent John Doggett (Patrick) in the case involving Agent Mulder (Duchovny).
Her first episode will air Feb. 25, which also marks Duchovny's return to the series this season. According to series creator Chris Carter, Gish's character will likely become a regular if the show returns for a ninth season.
KEEPING AN 'EDGE': Undoubtedly a proponent of the saying that "it's too good to be true," the Sci Fi Channel has agreed to pick up 13 episodes of "News from the Edge" -- a comedy series about a tabloid newspaper journalist who finds out that all the absurd stories covered are true, Variety reports.
The series was originally being considered as a midseason replacement on NBC, but the network decided otherwise in October.
Starring Chad Willet, Rena Sofer and Reno Wilson, the pilot episode will serve as the series' opener, and future shows will begin production in mid-February.