The Associated Press brings us the news that a Thai newspaper is reporting an animated feature will be made out of a novel written by Thailand's king. According to the NATION newspaper, storyboards for the film, which is based on King Bhumibol Adulyadej's novel MAHACHANOK (THE GREAT FATHER), will be submitted to the king for approval in March 2003. The 90-minute film is being produced by the government's National Youth Bureau, and tells the story of a Buddhist ruler who sacrifices himself for his subjects.

Warner Bros. Pictures has announced that FINAL FLIGHT OF THE OSIRIS, directed by Square USA and one of the nine animated episodes that make up THE ANIMATRIX, will have its theatrical premiere with DREAMCATCHER, a new thriller set to debut in theaters March 21, 2003. Directed by Lawrence Kasdan, DREAMCATCHER is a supernatural thriller based on Stephen King's novel of the same name. It stars Morgan Freeman, Thomas Jane and Jason Lee, and features special effects by ILM.

He wears a hooded sweatshirt, sunglasses and talks, thanks to special effects by Asylum and The Secret Lab! He's KANGAROO JACK, the down under comedy that hopped to the top of the box office heap this weekend, earning $17.6M in its debut. In second place was another new release, NATIONAL SECURITY, starring Martin Lawrence and Steve Zahn, which debuted with $15.7M. Last week's number one film JUST MARRIED fell to third with $12.4M for a total $34M.

Finally a film has come along that was able to topple the box office power of LORD OF THE RINGS: THE TWO TOWERS, but strangely enough it was the low budget romantic comedy JUST MARRIED. Standing out as the lone new release this weekend, JUST MARRIED managed to debut in first place with $18M. This knocked THE TWO TOWERS, featuring primary visual effects by Weta Digital, down to second place, with $14.9M and a four-week cume of $283.6M.

Sony Pictures Animation has purchased a treatment from cartoonist Steve Moore and producer John Carls, tentatively titled OPEN SEASON. It tells the story of what happens in the wild when the tables are turned and the hunters become the hunted. Moore and Carls will work closely with Sony Animation executive vice presidents Penney Finkelman Cox and Sandra Rabins and creative VP Nate Hopper in developing the project. "I love imagining life from the animals’ point of view – especially animals who are hunted.

For the third weekend in a row, LORD OF THE RINGS: THE TWO TOWERS, with visual effects by Weta Digital, ruled the box office, earning a lordly $25M for a three week cume of $261M. So far, the second installment in the LORD OF THE RINGS trilogy has earned 26% more over a comparable period of time than its 2001 predecessor, THE FELLOWSHIP OF THE RING. This bodes well for the final act, THE RETURN OF THE KING, which will bow in theaters December 2004. Holding on to second place was CATCH ME IF YOU CAN, with visual effects by Asylum and a stunning animated opening sequence by Nexus Prods.

Although Disney chose to give Hayao Miyazaki's SPIRITED AWAY a modest release in the U.S., the film has managed to catch the eye of critics. Already winning Best Animated Feature from the New York Critics Circle, The Los Angeles Critics Association and the National Board of Review, SPIRITED AWAY is now finding its way on to critics' "Best of 2002" lists.

LILO & STITCH was named best animated feature by both The Washington DC Area Film Critics Association (WAFCA) and the Las Vegas Film Critics Society, bucking the SPIRITED AWAY trend that has so far prevailed amongst critics. In the inaugural awards from WAFCA, announced on December 30, the critics' group also chose ICE AGE as a runner up in the animated category, and UNDERCOVER BROTHER, Universal Pictures live-action adaptation of Urban Entertainment's animated Web series, as "Best Guilty Pleasure."

Following in the footsteps of video games turned feature films such as RESIDENT EVIL and TOMB RAIDER, interactive game developer Infogrames, Inc. and Dritte/Vierte Boll Kino Beteiligungs-GmbH & Co KG (Boll Kino) are taking the horror game ALONE IN THE DARK from the computer screen to the big screen. Infogrames has sold Boll Kino the theatrical feature film rights to the classic game. Under the agreement, Boll Kino will control exclusive worldwide theatrical film rights to ALONE IN THE DARK, as well as video, DVD, television, cable and pay-per-view rights for the film.

LORD OF THE RINGS ruled the last box office weekend of 2002 with THE TWO TOWERS topping $200M after 12 days in release. The second film in the LORD OF THE RINGS trilogy, with visual effects by Weta Digital, earned $48.9M over the weekend for a total of $200.1M. In second place was CATCH ME IF YOU CAN, with visual effects by Asylum, which debuted on Christmas Day with $10M. The film, which stars Leonardo DiCaprio and Tom Hanks, earned $30M this weekend for a five-day cume of $48.6M.