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.

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.

As expected, Sony's S.W.A.T. ruled the weekend box office ending Aug. 10, 2003, with an impressive $37M (with VFX by Pixel Magic). Disney's FREAKY FRIDAY remake came in second, drawing a very impressive $22.2M and $33.1M for the five-day period, with Jacqueline Allard serving as digital compositor for the VFX. Universal's AMERICAN WEDDING (with VFX by Soho VFX) took third place after a 53% nose-dive, garnering $15.4M and $65.2M in its second weekend.

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.

NXN Software, a leader in asset management solutions for the digital entertainment and computer graphics industries, recently announced that Vanguard Animation is implementing NXN alienbrain VFX for the production of VALIANT, the first fully animated CG feature to be made in the U.K.

In a move that looks like it wants to recapture the success of its HARRY POTTER franchise, Warner Bros. Pictures has optioned Phillip Ardagh’s children’s trilogy of books, featuring the main character Eddie Dickens, reported DAILY VARIETY. Scribe Matthew Huffman (ME AND MY MONSTER) has been tapped to write the screenplay for the first book, A HOUSE CALLED AWFUL END. The story follows an 11-year-old British boy, who goes to live with his Mad Uncle Jack and Mad Aunt Maud when his parents get sick and ends up in the St. Horrid's Home for Grateful Orphans.

The countdown for Aardman Animations’ WALLACE & GROMIT THE MOVIE has started, as the studio in Bristol, England starts as the DreamWorks-backed feature gets underway in September, according to DAILY VARIETY and confirmed by a DreamWorks spokesperson.

All 26 episodes comprising the first season of ROCKY & BULLWINKLE & FRIENDS, from 1961, arrives in a must-own four-disc set on Aug. 5, 2003 (Sony Music Video, $39.98). Certainly one of TV's wittiest animated series, producer Jay Ward, partner Bill Scott (the voice of Bullwinkle and others) and their wacky writing staff never pandered to children. Despite the dated Cold War material, painful puns and other cultural clichés, the cartoons hold up very well.

Italian animation house Mondo TV and its German division, Mondo Igel Media AG, has inked a deal with Neue Deutsche Filmgesellschaft (NDF) to produce two animated features as well as a TV series. The TV series will be the second season of NDF’s LETTERS FROM FELIX, based upon the famous German children’s books by Annette Langen and Constanza Droop. The feature projects have not been announced yet. The price tag on all three projects is $5.8 million.

For the upcoming feature FREDDY VS. JASON, Freddy vs. Jason Prod used Eyetronics mobile scanning services. The filmmakers chose the technology so they could increase the quality of the visual effects and meet their goals within their tight 10-week production schedule.

The Ben Affleck superhero actioner, DAREDEVIL, based on the Marvel comic book, comes to DVD (Fox Home Entertainment, $29.98) armed with more features than fearless protagonist Matt Murdock. Among them is an hour-long collection of interviews with people that worked on the comic, including creator Stan Lee, Frank Miller and director Kevin Smith.

Universal's AMERICAN WEDDING (with VFX by Soho VFX) powered the weekend box office ending Aug. 3, 2003, grabbing a huge $33.3M slice of cake. SPY KIDS 3D: GAME OVER fell to second place, dropping 41% while collecting $19.5M for a total of $68.5M in its second weekend. Hybride Technologies and The Orphanage shared VFX duties for the Dimension Films release.

Banking on some slightly different kind of toy stories, Miramax Films and LEGO Co. are in production on a second CGI-animation direct-to-video based upon the toy company’s BIONICLE brand and are developing a theatrical motion picture scheduled for release in 2005. These are early commitments considering their first collaboration, BIONICLE: MASK OF LIGHT, won’t debut on DVD and video until September 16, 2003.

Talkshow host Kelly Ripa is the latest to join the star-studded cast of DELGO, the independently produced computer-animated feature from Atlanta, Georgia-based Fathom Studios. Ripa (LIVE WITH REGIS AND KELLY, HOPE AND FAITH) is providing the voice of Princess Kyla's handmaiden. The fantasy adventure is set in a divided land where a troubled youth and some unlikely friends must save the world from itself.

Hybride used a range of Softimage systems to create animation and effects for the box-office topper SPY KIDS 3D: GAME OVER. The 100-person team at Hybride relied on the SOFTIMAGE|XSI product, SOFTIMAGE|XSI Batch and SOFTIMAGE|XSI BatchServe.

With FINDING NEMO overtaking THE LION KING as the box office leader in animation, Buena Vista Home Entertainment has announced that the Disney/Pixar blockbuster will debut on DVD on Nov. 4, 2003. The two-disc Collector's Edition ($29.99) will feature a new original short film, EXPLORING THE REEF WITH JEAN-MICHEL COUSTEAU, the classic Pixar short, KNICKKNACK, and the following extras:
– Filmmakers' visual commentary (including deleted scenes and recording sessions).

Out of nowhere, SPY KIDS 3D: GAME OVER topped the box office charts for the weekend ending July 27, 2003, bringing in $33.4M for Miramax's Dimension Films, with VFX by Hybride Technologies and The Orphanage. Meanwhile, even though Disney/Pixar's FINDING NEMO reeled in $4.4M in the eighth spot, it topped $313M as this year's best grosser, good enough to break the LION KING's record as the all-time animation king. However, if you count the recent IMAX reissue, THE LION KING technically has earned a total of $328.5M.