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.

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.

Contrary to a report in DAILY VARIETY that Johnny Depp has been offered the coveted role of Willy Wonka in Tim Burton's upcoming film version of Roald Dahl's CHARLIE AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY, a spokesperson for Warner Bros. said the studio is not even in negotiations with the actor and the script is still being rewritten. Stay tuned because Depp is still the leading contender to star in his third Burton film, following EDWARD SCISSORHANDS and ED WOOD, and has never been hotter after propelling Disney's blockbuster, PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN.

To avoid a direct conflict with Disney/Pixar’s THE INCREDIBLES on November 5, 2004, DreamWorks has moved up the release of its underwater mob comedy, SHARKSLAYER, to Oct. 1. DreamWorks had originally staked out the Nov. 5 date, until Disney/Pixar laid claim to it as well in a teaser trailer for the Brad Bird film that accompanied FINDING NEMO.

Vancouver-based Mercury Filmworks and Perfect Circle Productions are partnering on a new animated movie, EDISON & NEEMO, produced with a unique blend of stop-motion and 3D animation. The film is an adventurously comic reworking of the mythical and legendary inventor, Thomas Alva Edison.

Hot off its Student Emmy Award for the clever animated short LITTLE RED PLANE, Shadedbox, the Pasadena-based animation studio formed two years ago by a group of college buddies, has optioned its first CG-animated feature to Disney. LET’S GET FRANCIS is a fast-paced comedy about two hamster brothers, Joe and Francis, who live inside a mall pet store, and compete for the attention of customers during the busy holiday season.

Considering how hard it was to get FREDDY VS. JASON on the big screen, New Line must be smiling now, as the dual franchise frightener (with vfx principally by Cinesite (Hollywood), Pixel Magic and Asylum) scared up $36.4M for the weekend box office ending Aug. 17, 2003. In fact, not even the power blackout that struck the Northeast and parts of the Midwest hindered the horror film, even when power was still out in large areas on Friday night.

Fred Patten takes a look at Allan Neuwirth's new book about the American animation industry.

With the distinct possibly of THE MATRIX RELOADED and THE MATRIX REVOLUTIONS canceling each other out in terms of Oscar contention, Warner Bros. has decided to solely promote the latter film, which opens Nov. 5, 2003, a studio source told VFXWorld. It also makes sense from the standpoint that REVOLUTIONS concludes the Wachowski Brothers' trilogy and will have all the momentum on its side if it delivers the goods.

THE FAIRLY ODDPARENTS started as a short on Nickelodeon’s OH YEAH! CARTOONS!, spun-off off into its own TV series, then a 90-minute telemovie, recently became a stripped series and is now slated to be a big screen theatrical. Paramount Pictures-based Nickelodeon Movies is developing an untitled film version with the show's creator Butch Hartman and producer/story editor Steve Marmel, according to THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER and confirmed by a Nick spokesperson.

Director Ronny Yu (FREDDY VS. JASON) has optioned rights to the anime movie BLOOD: THE LAST VAMPIRE for a live-action feature, according to SCI FI WIRE. The original 2000 movie directed by Hiroyuki Kitakubo concerns a vampire hunter on a military base.

Fred Patten takes a look at this new book cataloging Spike & Mike's festival compilations and well as other notable edgy indie shorts.

Weta Digital has landed work on both the KING KONG remake and THE LION, THE WITCH AND THE WARDROBE feature. Head of Weta Peter Jackson has inked a deal with Universal to bring his version of the giant ape tale to the screen, reported DAILY VARIETY. The deal is worth $20 million and 20% of the gross to Jackson for his writing and directing duties, which he will split with Fran Walsh and Philippa Boyens who also helped the Oscar-nominated director pen the LORD OF THE RINGS trilogy. Welsh is set to produce the KONG redux.

The second season of FUTURAMA, Matt Groening's Emmy-Award-winning JETSONS-meets-SIMPSONS satire of pop culture hits DVD shelves on Aug. 12, 2003 (Fox Home Entertainment, $49.98). Life among the beer-fueled robots in the year 30003, starring Bender, Fry, Leela and Nibbler, was vastly improved the second time around, according to many fans. And the digital animation was better too.

Renn Prod. and producer Claude Berri have scrapped plans to produce a third live-action feature in the ASTERIX franchise, reported the HOLLYWOOD REPORTER. ASTERIX AND OBELIX IN SPAIN had been scheduled to start shooting next spring in Spain. Director Gerard Jugnot (MONSIEUR BATIGNOLLE) had been assigning directing duties and Christian Clavier and Gerard Depardieu were set to reprise their roles.

As part of the recent studio trend, DreamWorks SKG has formed a new specialty division, Go Fish Pictures, with MILLENNIUM ACTRESS, the critically acclaimed anime title by Satoshi Kon, as its first release. MILLENNIUM ACTRESS opens September 12, 2003 in Los Angeles, New York, Chicago, Boston, San Francisco and Toronto. INNOCENCE: GHOST IN A SHELL II will follow in the spring of 2004, but there may be more titles in between, including live action.

Walt Disney Home Entertainment ups the LILO & STITCH ante with a new DVD board game, LILO & STITCH'S ISLAND OF ADVENTURES ($29.99), available Nov. 11, 2003. In keeping with the home entertainment division's "immersive" theme, the DVD provides nearly 60 minutes of new content that expands the home theater family experience. Players interact with favorite and new characters from Disney's beloved animated film. They'll race around the game board in a quest to capture Stitch's lost cousins, while playing dynamic on-screen games, singing, dancing and having fun.

Mike Newell (the upcoming MONA LISA SMILE and FOUR WEDDINGS AND A FUNERAL) will direct HARRY POTTER AND THE GOBLET OF FIRE, the fourth movie in the blockbuster fantasy series based on the phenomenal best sellers by J.K. Rowling, and the first to be helmed by a Brit, according to a Warner Bros. Pictures announcement. Production is scheduled to begin in England in April, 2004 for a holiday 2005 release, with David Heyman producing and Steve Kloves scripting.