X2: X-MEN UNITED (Fox Home Entertainment, $29.98) has arrived on DVD. The highly anticipated follow-up to X-MEN has director Bryan Singer and crew surer footed with both the comic book conventions and demanding vfx, supervised by Michael Fink, who recently wrote about the history of previs for VFXWORLD.

Cinesite (Europe) Ltd announced that it has moved into production on visual effects for several major feature films, which will complete throughout 2004. These include TROY (Warner Bros.), HARRY POTTER AND THE PRISONER OF AZKABAN (Warner Bros.), ALIEN VS. PREDATOR (Fox), AROUND THE WORLD IN 80 DAYS (Walden Media), SAHARA (Paramount), KING ARTHUR (Buena Vista) and ALFIE (Paramount).

Warner Bros.' GOTHIKA, the contemporary ghost story starring Halle Berry, Robert Downey Jr. and Penelope Cruz, marks the debut of new digital fire effects created by CafeFX. With fire a central motif in the movie, CafeFX was challenged to develop custom software for fire shading and motion in key sequences, and with creating effects that heighten the impact of other frightening scenes.

Though well short of the opening gross for the live-action HOW THE GRINCH STOLE CHRISTMAS, Universal's THE CAT IN THE HAT still attracted enough tikes and their families to pull in a sizable $38.3M in its debut. The Imagine Entertainment production, with vfx by Rhythm & Hues, ruled the box office for the weekend ended Nov. 23, 2003.

ROCKFISH, the second computer-animated short from Blur Studio, currently on the short-list for Oscar consideration, was screened publicly for the first time, Nov. 21, 2003 for a confab of journalists and animators at the Charles Aidikoff Screening Room in Beverly Hills, California.

The long in the works French production KAENA: THE PROPHECY will be getting a U.S. theatrical run from IDP Distribution starting July 4, 2004. The film debuted in France September 2003.

As if they hadn’t sprung enough new animated features on us already (three in 2004), Montreal-based H2V Entertainment plans to produce two more theatricals starring one of the world’s most well-known toys, the Slinky. H2V Kids, a new addition to H2V and its partner UKFS, have signed a deal with DoubleTake Spring Partners, Inc. and James Industries, Inc. to launch the legendary toy into the world of animation with two movies and a TV series based on characters from the hit collection of Slinky Pets toys.

g-NET Media LLC has announced the establishment of g-NET Publishing in order to produce and market videogame-related home-video products. g-NET Publishing's first product will be iGuides, the world's first line of officially licensed DVD videogames strategy guides. g-NET has teamed with FUNimation Productions Ltd. as the exclusive distributor for its iGuide product in the U.S. and all English-speaking territories.

In an interview with the TORONTO STAR, actor Andy Serkis, the man behind LORD OF THE RINGS: THE TWO TOWER’s scene-stealing CG character Gollum, alluded to his re-teaming with RINGS director Peter Jackson as the big ape in KING KONG. The article stated, “Serkis has an even bigger assignment ahead of him. Rumour has it he'll be the face of King Kong in Peter Jackson's planned 2005 remake of the legendary ape epic.

Mickey Mouse celebrates his 75th anniversary today as one of the world's most beloved cultural icons. Ever since Mickey debuted in the first synchronized sound cartoon, STEAMBOAT WILLIE, on Nov. 18, 1928, he has remained in our consciousness while also presiding as the face of The Walt Disney Co. around the globe. Today, the company honored Mickey 75th by kicking off 18 months of celebration beginning at Walt Disney World Resort with the unveiling of 75 uniquely designed, 700-pound, 6-foot-tall Mickey statues -- a tribute to Mickey from an impressive group of friends. Chairman/ceo Michael D.

After only two weeks, Disney/Pixar's FINDING NEMO has sold a record-breaking 15 million units on DVD and another 5 million units on video, reeling in more than $360 million in total home entertainment revenue, according to Buena Vista Home Entertainment. That exceeds the nearly $340 million raked in at the North American box office this year, a record for animated features. In terms of DVDs, NEMO has surpassed THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE FELLOWSHIP OF THE RING (14.5 million units).

Buena Vista Pictures Distribution has acquired the domestic distribution rights to Walden Media's adventure comedy, AROUND THE WORLD IN 80 DAYS, starring Jackie Chan. The film will be released by Walt Disney Pictures as a summer 2004 tentpole.

SINBAD: LEGEND OF THE SEVEN SEAS (DreamWorks Home Entertainment, $19.95), DreamWorks' last traditionally animated feature for the foreseeable future, bows on DVD Nov. 18, 2003.

DigitalFilm Tree (DFT), a post and design company specializing in Final Cut Pro (FCP) consultation and implementation, collaborated with Oscar-winning editor Walter Murch to pioneer a Final Cut Pro editing workflow for his work on Anthony Minghella's COLD MOUNTAIN, Miramax's Civil War epic starring Jude Law and Nicole Kidman and prime Oscar contender, due in theaters Christmas Day.

New Line's Christmas satire, ELF (with vfx by Rhythm & Hues and Amalgamated Pixels) won the box office weekend ended Nov. 16, 2003. After two weeks, ELF has grabbed a tidy $70.3M. Fox's Oscar contender, MASTER AND COMMANDER: THE FAR SIDE OF THE WORLD, debuted in second place with a respectable but certainly not commanding $25.1M.

Production has been halted on the Walt Disney Co.'s A FEW GOOD GHOSTS at Feature Animation in Orlando, Florida (BROTHER BEAR, LILO & STITCH and MULAN) due to creative differences and subject matter deemed not "universally appealing." The shutdown falls on the heels of recent closures (Paris and Tokyo) and layoffs, including 50 at the Orlando facility.

Amman, Jordan-based Rubicon, Washington, DC-based Layalina Prods. and Los Angeles-based Fat Rock Ent. have teamed up to create a 13-episode series addressing the cultural gap that exists between the United States and the Arab world. Heading the project will be Rubicon ceo Randa Ayoubi, Layalina’s chairman Richard Fairbanks and Fat Rock ceo David Pritchard, who created the series. The project is intended to be a direct-to-DVD production, but will also air on satellite and television broadcast networks both in the Middle East and the U.S. The budget for the project is set at $5 million.

Due to "overwhelming consumer demand and retailer orders for Buena Vista Home Entertainment's WALT DISNEY TREASURES WAVE 3," the highly anticipated and collectible limited series has been pushed back from December 2, 2003 to May 18, 2004. Apparently Technicolor is backed up with manufacturing orders (including FINDING NEMO, THE LION KING and PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN), because, according to an official statement, "demand for the four titles in the upcoming wave has exceeded BVHE's ability to manufacture enough [units]."

Miramax has hired writer Brett Matthews to pen the theatrical installment of the LEGO BIONICLE franchise. Both the first and in-production second film in the series are direct-to-DVD releases. The BIONICLE story follows a group of intelligent biomechanical superheroes who battle the evil Makuta.

Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment plans to up the D-VHS ante by debuting five new titles this holiday season on JVC's D-VHS format, featuring JVC's D-Theater encryption and introducing for the first time optional DTS digital surround sound at the full bit rate of 1509 kbps. The titles include: X2 (Nov. 25), LEAGUE OF EXTRAORDINARY GENTLEMEN (Dec. 16), MOULIN ROUGE (Nov. 25), SPEED (Dec. 16) and TRUE LIES (Dec. 16).