In a further sign of its aggressive commitment to computer animation, Fox Animation and Blue Sky Studios are prepping a feature based on the laidback children's book THE IGUANA BROTHERS: A TALE OF TWO LIZARDS, the trades reported and the studio confirmed. Written by Tony Johnson and illustrated by Mark Teague, IGUANA concerns two brothers in Mexico (Dom and Tom) that will try almost anything, including going vegetarian and acting like dinosaurs.

Michelle Rodriguez (GIRLFIGHT) and Alfred Molina (FRIDA) have joined the voice cast of SIAN KA'AN, the first Hispanic-themed animated feature produced within the U.S. The cast already includes opera legend Placido Domingo and comedian Cheech Marin (STILL SMOKIN’). Rodriguez will lend her voice to the fiery secretary of the celestial prime minister of extinct species. Molina will voice the title character and lead villain Ka'an.

Warner Bros. has announced that Christian Bale (EQUILIBRIUM, AMERICAN PSYCHO) has been cast as Bruce Wayne in Warner Bros.’ upcoming BATMAN movie. MEMENTO director Christopher Nolan will direct the next installment in the popular franchise, which will be produced by Emma Thomas. The movie is written by David Goyer, along with Nolan, and will follow the early career of the Caped Crusader.

Nolan said, “What I see in Christian is the ultimate embodiment of Bruce Wayne. He has exactly the balance of darkness and light that we were looking for.”

MILLENNIUM ACTRESS, the first film to be released under Go Fish Pictures, DreamWorks’ new distribution arm, opened Sept. 12, 2003 in a limited run. The Japanese production by MAD HOUSE (PERFECT BLUE, VAMPIRE HUNTER D and METROPOLIS) reunites director Satoshi Kon and screenwriter Sadayuki Murai, who first collaborated together on Kon’s award-winning debut feature PERFECT BLUE. Taro Maki (TENCHI FOREVER) served as the exec producer. Susumu Hirasawa composed the score, and Takeshi Honda was the editor and director of animation.

Universal Home Video has announced that the October 28, 2003 DVD release of THE HULK will feature the Xbox demo version of THE HULK game. The DVD will contain one playable level.

The film follows the origin of The Hulk when gammarays transform scientist Bruce Banner into the raging green beast. With visual effects by Industrial Light & Magic and directed by Ang Lee (CROUCHING TIGER, HIDDEN DRAGON), the film stars Eric Bana, Jennifer Connelly, Sam Elliott, Josh Lucas and Nick Nolte.

The WALT DISNEY TREASURES collectible DVD series continues with WAVE 3 on Dec. 2, 2003. The four new, separate, two-disc sets (Walt Disney Home Entertainment, $32.99 each) include: WALT DISNEY ON THE FRONT LINES (featuring exclusive declassified material from World War II-themed productions); MICKEY MOUSE IN LIVING COLOR (VOLUME TWO); THE CHRONOLOGICAL DONALD; and WALT DISNEY’S TOMORROWLAND. Each volume is fully restored and introduced by historian Leonard Maltin.

In the annals of “did we need a second version, why are we getting a third,” Fox Searchlight has announced that they will be remaking the 1958’s classic horror flick THE FLY, reported DAILY VARIETY. Commercials, shorts and music video director Todd Lincoln will make his feature debut on the picture, taking on both directing and writing duties. His agency CAA set up the deal. Lincoln says his remake will be based more on the 1958 version rather than the David Cronenberg 1986 remake. He even hints at his version featuring a fly that, well, flies.

THE CORE, the high-tech sci-fi thriller starring Aaron Eckhart and Hilary Swank about a team of geophysicists that travel to the earth's core to save the planet, bores its way to DVD on Sept. 9, 2003 (Paramount Home Entertainment, $29.99). There are plenty of digital vfx disasters to dazzle the eye, courtesy of Frantic Films, CREO, Fantasy II Film Effects and Rising Sun Pictures, and the work was recently highlighted at VES 2003: A Festival of Visual Effects.

Following the indispensable first DVD set of THE OUTER LIMITS, arguably the best sci-fi anthology series in TV history, MGM Home Entertainment recently released SEASON 2. Cut short because of plummeting ratings in the '64-'65 season opposite THE JACKIE GLEASON SHOW on Saturday nights, the 17 episodes on the three-disc set (a bit steep at $69.96) nonetheless offer some series highlights despite creative compromises as a result of network interference on the part of ABC.

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).

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.

Disney's PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: THE CURSE OF THE BLACK PEARL, which emerged as the live-action surprise of the summer, and has amassed more than $280M to date, arrives on DVD on Dec. 2, 2003 from Walt Disney Home Entertainment. The two-disc set (priced at $29.99) will include a bounty of supplemental riches, including audio commentaries by director Gore Verbinski and Johnny Depp, deleted scenes, a "making-of" featurette, "Moonlight" scene progression, blooper reel and an interactive history of pirates.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.