INUYASHA THE MOVIE 3: SWORDS OF AN HONORABLE RULER is being given a highly visible and very unique send-off to retail. It will launch as a theatrical title before going to DVD on September 6 with screenings at 15 Wal-Marts across the U.S.
Curious Pictures visual effects department in New York has selected seven new computer graphics and vfx specialists for Curious ever-growing slate of branded entertainment projects. The new talent roster includes animators Seth Lippman of PDI/DreamWorks, Weta Digital and Sony Pictures Imageworks, who worked on SHREK 2, THE LORD OF THE RINGS and ANTZ, and Dr. John Alex, a former software engineer and technical director for Pixar, who led animation teams for TOY STORY 2, MONSTERS, INC. and FINDING NEMO, and wrote software applications for THE INCREDIBLES.
Beginning Saturday, Aug. 20, 2995, Kids' WB! will add a double-dose of POKÉMON ADVANCED CHALLENGE at 10:30 am ET/9:30am PT, to give viewers an hour-block of anime adventures.
The weekday lineup is as follows:3:00 pm: POKÉMON3:30 pm: JACKIE CHAN ADVENTURES4:00 pm: XIAOLIN SHOWDOWN4:30 pm: XIAOLIN SHOWDOWN
The revised Saturday morning schedule, beginning Saturday, August 20, is as follows (all times Eastern, Pacific time is one hour earlier):8:00 am: THE BATMAN8:30 am: THE BATMAN
Paramounts action-packed FOUR BROTHERS (with vfx support from Mr. X and Creature Effects) debuted in the top spot for the weekend ended Aug. 14, 2005, with $21.1M. But the slump continued as the top 12 movies were off by 16% from last years numbers. Another newcomer, Universals frightener, THE SKELETON KEY (with vfx from Rhythm + Hues), bowed in second with $16M. Sinking to third was Warner Bros. THE DUKES OF HAZZARD, which managed only $13M for a two-week cume of $57.4M. New Lines WEDDING CRASHERS landed in fourth place with $11.8M and $163.8M to date.
Heavenspot, a full service international design agency located in Hollywood, recently completed an online game design for Watson DG on HUSTLE AND FLOW, a newly released feature film from Paramount Studios.
Catering to the features core youth market and hip-hop audience, the game package includes fresh sound effects, innovative flash interfaces, a progressive design theory and the ability to email your customized ride to a friend.
Anime series NARUTO will make its worldwide English-version debut on Sept. 10, 2005, at 9 pm during Cartoon Networks primetime action block, Toonami.
The recently produced series (2202) from Japan centers around Uzumaki Naruto, a rebellious ninja in training, first featured as a popular manga series created by Masahi Kishimoto. The series has already acquired a huge fan base in the U.S. through DVD sales and bootleg tapes. Cartoon Network has acquired 52 episodes of the anime series.
The Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO) has released an updated report on the status of the Japanese animation industry. Surprisingly, the anime market sales in Japan declined from a high of 213.5 billion yen in 2002, to 191.2 billion yen in 2003 (a 10.4% drop). There are about 430 anime production studios in Japan, with 264 of them concentrated in greater Tokyo and 70 of those are in the Suginami district.
Warner Bros. big screen adaptation of THE DUKES OF HAZARD debuted in the top spot at the box office for the weekend ended Aug. 7, 2005, revving up $30.6M worth of ticket sales. New Lines WEDDING CRASHERS, last weeks winner, dropped to second place again with $16M for a cume of $143.6M. Warner Bros. CHARLIE AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY (with delightful vfx from MPC, Framestore CFC, Cinesite and Digital Domain) dipped to third place with $10.9M for a total of $169.4M.
Beginning Aug. 8 at 5:30 pm and running until Aug. 12, YTVs The Zone celebrates camping with themed episodes of SPONGEBOB SQUAREPANTS, THE FAIRLY ODDPARENTS, JIMMY NEUTRON and ALL GROWN UP.
Then starting Aug. 20 at 6:00 pm until Aug. 21 at 9:00 pm, YTV will air back-to-back episodes of YTVs most peculiar programs, featuring four new episodes of DANNY PHANTOM as well as hair-raising favorites MARTIN MYSTERY, SMALLVILLE and MYSTERY HUNTERS.
Alias has lots to demonstrate and talk about at its SIGGRAPH 2005 booth #1312 at the Los Angeles Convention Center with the release of its Maya 7 and MotionBuilder 7 software packages.
Maya 7 builds upon the architecture and performance enhancements in Maya 6.5 with new and improved tools for fast, realistic character animation, streamlined modeling and texturing, stunning visual effects and increased productivity. It also incorporates Pixar's patented technology.
One-year-old digital animation studio SciClone Motion Graphics (www.sciclonefx.com) has been adding experience in high-end 3D graphics as of late, reports Anand Gurnani in ANIMATION XPRESS. Focusing mostly on television commercials, SciClones recent clients have included Underground Music Movement, for which it created a high-end TV ad featuring a 3D ant, fluid simulations and a lot of compositing. Other brand clients include Colgate SciClone has animated a dozen commercials for this brand alone as well as Tide, Fair & Lovely, Samsung, Nutrine and ABN Amro Bank.
Avid Technology is showcasing its new facial animation technology, Softimage|Face Robot, for the first time publicly this week at SIGGRAPH, where attendees can preview the system at the Avid Computer Graphics booth #1401. Blur Studios, which is using Face Robot, will be at the show exhibiting some of the work it created with the software.
Navarre Corp., a publisher and distributor of a broad range of home entertainment and multimedia software products, has promoted Ward Thomas to svp of sales and operations for FUNimation, a subsidiary of Navarre Corp., and upped Joyce Fleck to vp of sales & marketing for FUNimation.
While head of sales for Navarre Distribution Services, Thomas is credited for leading and developing the distribution sales team so that the division experienced triple-digit growth.
wondertouch has released a Mac OS X version of its particle effects creation tool, particleIllusion 3.0. The new version offers the same features as the Windows version of particleIllusion 3.0, including super emitters, forces to improve integration into existing production environments, new color options and rendering engine improvements.
New Lines WEDDING CRASHERS, overtook Warner Bros. CHARLIE AND THE CHOCOLATE for the top spot in the box office for the weekend ended July 31, 2005. The R-rated comedy gathered $20M for a three-week cume of $115.6M. The Tim Burton movie (with delightful vfx from MPC, Framestore CFC, Cinesite and Digital Domain) settled for second place with $16.3M and a total of $148M.
Massive Software announced Massive Jet, a new autonomous agent 3D animation application that enables the creation of large-scale, believable digital crowd shots "out of the box" with high quality and a low learning curve. A full-functioning package priced under $6,000, Massive Jet leverages the company's Academy Award-winning artificial life-based technology, pre-built Ready-to-Run Agent library and GPU-accelerated rendering support to allow animators and artists at any facility to quickly and easily produce highly realistic Massive scenes.
NVIDIA Corp. announced three new additions to its suite of professional software products for the film industry:
* Gelato 2.0 rendering software, the latest major release of this product for film studios.* Amaretto, an Autodesk 3ds Max rendering plug-in for Gelato developed by Frantic Films.* Sorbetto lighting technology, an interactive tool that significantly accelerates the creation of realistic lighting.
InterSense Inc., the market leader in body worn, inertial tracking technology, continues to support Animazoo, a world leader in motion capture technology, with InertiaCube3 sensors for use in the GypsyGyro-18 MoCap suit. Animazoos most recent delivery of the GypsyGyro-18 went to Piranha Bytes, for speeding the production of character animation in the upcoming game title GOTHIC III. Piranha Bytes is a German game developer who created one of Europes most popular role playing games with its GOTHIC series.
Tim Burtons CHARLIE AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY (with delightful vfx from MPC, Framestore CFC, Cinesite and Digital Domain), is a double delight for Warner Bros., leading the box office for a second week in a row, taking in another $28.2M for a total of $114M for the weekend ended July 24, 2005.
Autodesk Inc. released new versions of its visual effects, editing/finishing and digital color grading systems. Used to create high-value feature film and television content, Autodesk's systems have been used on such major projects as CHARLIE AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY, FANTASTIC FOUR, SPIDER-MAN 2, THE SOPRANOS and the CSI franchise.
Animators around the world are invited to get started on their entries for IMAFs competition to identify the best in Manga and Anime talent. You have until September 30, 2005 to submit your work for a chance to win a share of the $75,000 prize fund which will be split amongst new, original and talented animators, both professional and amateur.
Prizes will be awarded in the following categories:Best Character DesignBest StoryboardBest Short Animation
Tim Burtons CHARLIE AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY (with delightful vfx from MPC, Framestore CFC, Cinesite and Digital Domain), which opened with a very sweet $56.1M for the weekend ended July 17, 2005, proved to be the best July opening ever for Warner Bros. It was also the best opening ever for a PG-rated movie in July as well as Johnny Depps best bow.
Comic-Con is more than half over and the masses of comic, sci-fi and genre fans have been treated to a cornocopia of delights. On Thursday, horror master David Cronenberg gave the attendees a sneak peek at his new film, A HISTORY OF VIOLENCE, which was adapted from a graphic novel by John Wagner and Vince Locke. Josh Olson wrote the screenplay, which he said is loosely based on the graphic novel.
From Warner Bros. Animations animated television series, the Teen Titans are swooping into Comic-Con to join Bandai America Inc. for an exclusive autograph signing event.
Pixel Corps, the global learning guild for aspiring and professional digital craftsman, has launched a new open enrollment policy. For a nominal monthly fee, Pixel Corps now offers its members unrestricted access to advanced digital media software (valued at more than $20,000), a comprehensive global learning community and extensive online training on a variety of products ranging from Adobe Photoshop and Apple Shake to Luxology modo and SOFTIMAGE|XSI.
