More Satanic Versus

— One sports secondary jaws; the other wrapped Arnold Schwarzenegger in gauze. Alien vs. Predator, announced July 14, will team creatures from two of Fox’s biggest sci-fi film series. (The original 1979 Alien licked up $78.9 million, while 1987’s Predator hunted down $59.7 million.) The idea isn’t exactly original: The first comic-book face-off appeared in 1989, and two top-selling videogames have rolled out since 1999. No wonder Fox chose Paul Anderson, veteran of game-cum-movies Mortal Kombat and Resident Evil, to write and direct. Unlike the comics and the games, producer John Davis says the film will be set in a ”near-future Earth” — but wouldn’t comment on whether Sigourney Weaver’s Ripley might cameo.

— After seven years in a rewrite cemetery, Nightmare on Elm Street’s Freddy Krueger and Friday the 13th’s Jason Voorhees are primed to hack into theaters in summer 2003. Director Ronny Hu (Bride of Chucky) is prepping Freddy vs. Jason for a Sept. 9 start. New Line is in talks with Robert Englund to return for the eighth time as Krueger; Hu will also meet with Kane Hodder, who’s played hockey-masked Voorhees in four Fridays since 1988. The film will open with Freddy trapped in hell, sending Jason to Elm Street to resume his chopping spree. ”But Jason’s not easy to deal with,” says Hu. The action shifts to Camp Crystal Lake before what Hu calls a third-act ”WWE smackdown.” Just don’t expect a clear-cut victor.