The new horror film JEEPERS CREEPERS, with primary visual effects by E=MC2 and Max Ink Café LLC, debuted at number one earning $15.8M over the four-day Labor Day weekend. RUSH HOUR 2, with primary visual effects by Cinesite, held the number two spot for the fourth consecutive week with a four-day take of $11.8M bringing its total gross to $198.9M. Holding steady in fifth place is the road comedy RAT RACE, with animated opening titles by Wild Brain, which has grossed $37.8M after 17 days.

Excited about seeing Hayao Miyazaki's new film SPIRITED AWAY? Don't hold your breath. Disney has no plans of releasing the film in the U.S. In an Inside.com article, David Jessen, vice president of acquisitions at Disney's Buena Vista, said he has seen the film and that he likes it, but that other Disney executives have not. Disney currently has no official plans to release any more of Miyazaki's films in America, he said, adding "we are strategizing now worldwide." The reason for the move is the disappointing results of PRINCESS MONONOKE.

With AMERICAN PIE 2 staying a third week in the top spot, RUSH HOUR 2 held tight in second with JAY & SILENT BOB STRIKE BACK debuting in third. RUSH HOUR 2, with primary visual effects by Cinesite, took home another US$11.4 million, raising its cume to $183.3 million. JAY & SILENT BOB, with primary visual effects by Digital Research Lab, MetroLight Studios and Tigar Hare Studios, racked in $11.1 million, making it the highest opening for a film from director Kevin Smith.

Believe it or not, but model Fabio has formed an animation company. The yet untitled firm is producing a feature based on the Marvel comic, THOR: GOD OF THUNDER. "To me, the future of TV and movies is going to be 3D animation," said Fabio to PEOPLE magazine. "Sad to say, but I think actors are going to be out of jobs." The 42-year old former romance novel cover model currently works out of his six-room Los Angeles home.

Riding on the success of SHREK, DreamWorks' Jeffrey Katzenberg has announced that two CGI films will go into production simultaneously at PDI/DreamWorks. Three films are currently in pre-production, and once solidified, will go into production. The first project is TUSKER, which has been floating round the studio for years. The action-adventure story is set in Southeast Asia and will follow a herd of elephants.

With OSMOSIS JONES slipping out of the top ten, the U.S. box office remained mostly live-action. With AMERICAN PIE 2 claiming the top spot for a second straight week, RUSH HOUR 2 held tight to the #2 slot, grossing US$19.2 million. The kung-fu caper, with primary visual effects by Cinesite, has racked up $164.8 million. RAT RACE, with animated opening titles by Wild Brain, debuted at #3 with a gross of $11.8 million. At #6, CAPTAIN CORELLI'S MANDOLIN, with primary visual effects by Double Negative, sung home $7.1 million in its premiere.

Wild Brain has completed production on the animated opening title sequence for Paramount's upcoming film RAT RACE, directed by Jerry Zucker (AIRPLANE!). Wild Brain director Julia Tortolani provided the title design and animation. The opening title sequence features animated Photo Collage Puppets of the movie's characters. The sequence comes to a climax when four of the characters take the director's credit and run across the desert, through a collaged version of Las Vegas and into the front door of the Venetian Hotel.

Academy Award-winner Christopher Walken has joined the voice cast of Columbia Pictures' STUART LITTLE 2. He joins a voice cast, which includes Michael J. Fox, Nathan Lane, Steve Zahn and Melanie Griffith. Walken will voice the character of Falcon, a sharp-beaked villain who puts Stuart and a new friend in danger. Scheduled to hit theaters July 19, 2002, the sequel follows the continuing adventures of Stuart (voiced by Fox), the beloved mouse who was adopted by the Littles, a human family. Rob Minkoff will return as the director of the film.

TriStar Pictures is set to release METROPOLIS, directed by Rintaro (X) and written by anime legend Katsuhiro Otomo (AKIRA), in the U.S. on November 9. Based on the classic comic by Osamu Tezuka, the film is set in the futuristic city populated by humans and robots. Amidst the chaos created by anti-robot factions, detective Shunsaku Ban and his sidekick Ken-ichi are searching for rebel scientist Dr. Laughton, to arrest him and seize his latest creation, Tima, a beautiful young female android created to succeed the leader of Metropolis. The film is a combination of cel and digital animation.

Los Angeles-based development and production company, Collision Entertainment, has acquired the film and television rights to MAX PAYNE, one of the most highly anticipated video game releases of the last several years, from game producer 3D Realms. Dimension Films will distribute the property in the U.S., with Abandon Entertainment handling international distribution. Max Payne is a DEA operative deep undercover, torn between avenging the mafia murders of his wife and child and being framed for the murder of a fellow agent.