Summer's over and audiences predictably stayed home. For the weekend that concluded Sept. 7, 2003, the box office top 10 couldn't even muster $50M. Paramount's DICKIE ROBERTS: FORMER CHILD STAR debuted at number one, collecting $6.6M. UA's JEEPERS CREEPERS 2 came in second place (featuring vfx by The Orphanage and Makeup and Monsters) with $6.5M and $27.2M to date.

SLEEPING BEAUTY Disney's ambitious fairy tale spectacle from 1959 - the first animated feature drawn and photographed in Technirama 70mm -- arrives on DVD Sept. 9, 2003 in a lavish two-disc special edition (Walt Disney Home Video, $29.99). The movie looks stunning with the entire digital cleanup, though some preservationists and historians may argue about the accuracy of the colors and precision of the aspect ratio (it should be 2.2:1, not 2.35:1).

STITCH! THE MOVIE (Walt Disney Home Entertainment, $29.99), the DVD premiere sequel to LILO & STITCH that's currently in stores, concentrates more on the antics of the mischievous alien than on the domestic crises of the little Hawaiian girl, as they try to thwart the other 625 alien experiments on the loose. But that's because it serves as a bridge between the successful and gorgeous feature and the upcoming LILO & STITCH: THE TV SERIES, premiering Sept. 20, 2003 on ABC's Saturday morning lineup and on the Disney Channel.

When all was said and done, summer 2003 climbed to a record high of $3.27B, 2% higher than last year, thanks mainly to higher ticket prices. Nonetheless, the number of tickets sold was 542.3M, fourth highest in movie history, though down 2% from summer 2002.

MONTY PYTHON alum Terry Jones and singer Björk have joined the cast of the animated short film ANNA AND THE MOODS. The film is being developed at Icelandic toon factory CAOZ Ltd, which will screen a trailer at this year’s Cartoon Forum in Varese, Italy. The picture has already received script grants from the Icelandic Film Centre and will receive Icelandic theater, home entertainment and TV distribution through Northern Lights Communications. The half-hour 3D film is scheduled to debut in Iceland theaters at year-end 2004.

DECODE Entertainment is building its licensing and merchandising designs by signing a deal with Universal to acquire U.K. home entertainment rights to its preschool property, THE SAVE-UMS!

The Save-Ums! follows 3D action heroes who aim to help prepare preschoolers for their role in the 21st century. The pintsize Save-ums utilize whimsical helicopters, space ships and other gadgets to solve problems and nurture an interest in technology as well as critical thinking.

With "El Barto" and company recently hitting its 300th episode in its 14th season as the longest running sitcom on primetime TV, Fox Home Entertainment released THE SIMPSONS SEASON THREE on DVD ($49.98) on Aug. 26, 2003. Like its smash hit predecessors, this latest four-disc set comes jam-packed with extras of interest to enthusiasts. Some of the Season Three celebrity guest stars included Magic Johnson, Sting and the late Steve Allen.

Two more screen legends, Anne Bancroft and Malcolm McDowell, have joined the all-star cast of DELGO, the indie produced fantasy adventure film from Atlanta-based Fathom Studios. The rest of the voice cast includes Jennifer Love Hewitt, Val Kilmer, Michael Clarke Duncan, Chris Kattan, Kelly Ripa, Eric Idle and Burt Reynolds.

LION KING-director Rob Minkoff’s Sprocketdyne Entertainment has signed a deal with United Media to transform Darby Conley’s comic strip GET FUZZY into a CGI-enhanced live-action feature, reported DAILY VARIETY. BEAUTY AND THE BEAST and HUNCHBACK OF NOTRE DAME director Kirk Wise will be making his live-action debut on the project. Wise has been developing the project with Conley. Minkoff and his partner Jason Clark will produce the picture, with their Sprocketdyne vp of development Warren Davis co-producing.

Mondo Media has released a second collection of its HAPPY TREE FRIENDS Web series on DVD. The series features various cute and cuddly characters that find themselves in all sorts of limb-maiming mayhem. “Second Serving” features 17 regular episodes, two new episodes, four interactive smoochies, six holiday kringles and bonus features include behind the scenes, character interviews, sing-a-longs, board-to-episode comparisons and a special mystery character show.

The most expensive animated feature produced in Korea, WONDERFUL DAYS, has tanked at the box office in its native country. The film cost $11 million to produce, but has disappeared from theaters after only two weeks in release, garnering a paltry $1.9 million. The film even debuted behind DreamWorks’ SINBAD: LEGEND OF THE SEVEN SEAS, which was a disappointment in the U.S.

In light of Morgan Creek's firing of director Paul Schrader from EXORCIST: THE BEGINNING (the production company disliked his final cut), famed novelist Caleb Carr (THE ALIENIST), who shares screenplay credit with William Wisher, gave his perspective to VFXWorld:

Corsham Entertainment, a new TV and film production company in the U.K., is developing IN FOR THE KRILL, a 2D animated feature from Australian director Greg Holfeld. This dark "penguin-noir" is a follow up to his short "BLACK AND WHITE RED ALL OVER," a feature shown at the St. Kilda and Adelaide International Film Festivals and is making the international festival circuit.

Celebrated writer-director Paul Schrader has been dismissed from EXORCIST: THE BEGINNING over a creative dispute with production company Morgan Creek. Reports of friction have been rampant for weeks, with the NEW YORK POST affirming that Schrader was fired in its Page Six column on Aug. 25, 2003. Warner Bros., which will distribute the prequel to the legendary horror classic, deferred inquiries to Morgan Creek, and a spokesperson there was unavailable for comment.

Galleon Holdings plc has signed a deal with Swedish-based Jaguar Media Productions SA to produce a CGI feature film and 260-episode television series based on Galleon’s ASTRO KNIGHTS property. Jaguar will fully fund the approximately $12 million price-tag for both projects. As a result of the agreement, a new company, Astro Knights 2003 Ltd will be formed to manage the production and licensing. Revenues will be split 80/20 in favor of Jaguar.

New Line's FREDDY VS. JASON continued its assault on the box office, despite a 64% decline in its second weekend, scoring $13.1M for a cume of $61.1M (with vfx principally by Cinesite of Hollywood, Pixel Magic and Asylum).

OK, the TWO TOWERS DVD (New Line Home Entertainment, $29.95) arrives in stores Aug. 26, 2003, looking glorious in its widescreen edition and packed with the kinds of extras we've come to expect (two documentaries, eight featurettes, plus Sean Astin's short film, THE LONG AND SHORT OF IT, along with the making of it). But keep in mind: this is the theatrical version of Peter Jackson's blockbuster fantasy. There's the extended version still to come on Nov. 18, featuring some 43 extra minutes. So hold on tight and enjoy the second part of the journey.

A tracking shot through New York City, 1948. Through the hustle and bustle of postwar New York, we come up on the docks where two inept baggage handlers are loading crates onto a cargo ship. They are Chick (Bud Abbott) and Wilbur (Lou Costello), partners in a shipping firm. While fumbling with the grip, they are reprimanded by McDougal, an overzealous museum exhibitor who demands that Chick and Wilbur personally tend to his crates, however incompetently they behave.

In anticipation of the release of the final film in the series, New Line Cinema has decided to release the extended editions of THE FELLOWSHIP OF THE RING and THE TWO TOWERS. FELLOWSHIP will be released on December 5, 2003 in approximately 150 screens across North America followed by TWO TOWERS on December 12. Some theaters will present the two films back-to-back on December 8 and 15.

For those who want to be nit-picky, it's official: Disney/Pixar's FINDING NEMO, which has grossed $328,751,122 as of Aug. 21, 2003, now stands alone atop the animation box office chart, passing Disney's THE LION KING's total gross of $328,541,776, including the most recent IMAX reissue.