Sony Pictures Imageworks has added CINEMA 4D to its matte painting production pipeline. The award-winning software is used for modeling, animation and rendering in the computer animation environment. Imageworks chose MAXON's software after testing CINEMA 4D in the production environment.

BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER creator Joss Whedon will bring his cult TV series FIREFLY to the big screen in his feature film directorial debut, SERENITY. The film will be set six months after the end of the TV series and continue the adventures of the crew of the spaceship Serenity. Barry Mendel (THE SIXTH SENSE, UNBREAKABLE) will produce with Chris Buchanan, president of Whedon's Mutant Enemy production company, and Alisa Tager of Barry Mendel Prods. serving as exec producers.

New Line Home Ent. announced on Monday that THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE RETURN OF THE KING will be released May 25, 2004 on DVD in its theatrical version for $29.95, and that the Extended Edition will arrive in time for the holidays.

Mel Gibson’s THE PASSION OF THE CHRIST continued its assault on the box office this week, racking up $10.1M on Monday, $9.2M on Tuesday, $8.4M on Wednesday and $7.6M on Thursday, bringing its nine-day total to an astounding $160.6M. To put these numbers into perspective, RETURN OF THE KING earned $171.M during a comparable period, while SPIDER-MAN earned $202M, but that covered two weekends. Box office information obtained from boxofficemojo.com.

NXN Software, a leading supplier of asset management solutions for creative teams, announced increased market momentum in Asia for NXN alienbrain Studio. New NXN customers in 2003 included game developers such as NCSoft, Hanbitsoft and DR-Interactive in Korea, and CAVIA, Namco, Sonic Team, Think and Feel, Grandprix and Tose in Japan.

With an eye on a robust slate of current and future client activity, rapidly expanding Blitz Digital Studios (DS), a leading interactive marketing agency based in North Hollywood, California, has elevated three staff members and brought on board two creatives.

Oregon3D, The Academy for Digital Arts & Sciences, and Discreet will sponsor upcoming "Storytelling and Animation" seminars at the Game Developers Conference (GDC) in San Jose, California. Scheduled for March 25, 2004, this two-part class will explore the world of animation from a general overview to the current state of animation as a career.

What a busy week! RETURN OF THE KING swept the Academy Awards on Sunday with a record-tying 11 Oscars, while FINDING NEMO and HARVIE KRUMPET took the animation honors. Then today the great Disney showdown finally took place at the annual shareholder meeting in Philadelphia, with more than 43% voting against retaining Michael Eisner as chairman and ceo.

IMAX Corp. and Tom Hanks' and Gary Goetzman's Playtone have reached a deal with Lockheed Martin, to have the aerospace company sponsor the forthcoming IMAX 3D film, MAGNIFICENT DESOLATION. The 45-minute space documentary, which will be shot in giant 15/70 format using IMAX 3D cameras, will detail the life-changing experience of the 12 men who walked on the moon by showcasing what these men saw, heard, felt, thought and did while on the lunar surface.

After three successful years rhinofx, the New York visual effects studio, has launched a new division offering 3D previsualization. Having ventured into visual effects projects for film, television and video games, rhinofx is doubling its workspace in their New York midtown office building. A larger workforce and more artist stations are in place and previs services are being ramped up to form the new division called rhinofx previz.