Canadian independent digital animation service studio Mercury Filmworks has been selected by Warner Bros. Feature Animation to provide digital paint services for its live-action/animation feature film, LOONEY TUNES: BACK IN ACTION. Directed by Joe Dante, the production, starring Brendan Fraser and Jenna Elfman, Daffy Duck and Bugs Bunny with a co-staring the cast of whimsical Looney Tunes characters, is scheduled for release in November 2003.

If you missed Miyazaki's SPIRITED AWAY at movie theaters or the Japanese director's KIKI'S DELIVERY SERVICE and CASTLE IN THE SKY, Buena Vista Home Ent. has released them as a triple treat on DVD and home video, April 15, 2002. You may buy a two-disc DVD or VHS of the Oscar-winning feature SPIRITED AWAY by Studio Ghibli for a retail price of $29.99 DVD and $19.99 VHS.

New Marvel Comics-derived project THE HANDS OF SHANG CHI has been set at DreamWorks according to VARIETY. DreamWorks' spokesperson confirms that BAND OF BROTHERS writer Bruce McKenna is doing the script to be directed by Woo-ping Yuen, renowned for his choreography on THE MATRIX and CROUCHING TIGER, HIDDEN DRAGON films. Set in China, the movie is about a young kung fu mast master who learns his father is the worst criminal in the world and does not want to follow in his footsteps, which makers are calling THE GODFATHER in reverse.

Sony/Revolutions Anger Management hit moviegoers' funnybones just right, delivering an April record $42.2M opening in first place. Sony Pictures Imageworks and The Orphanage did VFX for ANGER. Twentieth Century Fox's PHONE BOOTH, with VFX by Asylum, connected again for with second place with $7.6M and a $26.7M cume. Warner Bros.' WHAT A GIRL WANTS, VFX work done by Cinesite, slipped a little to third place at $6.3M and a $20M take so far. BRINGING DOWN THE HOUSE moved up again to fourth, earning $4.5M for a $117.6M cume.

Twentieth Century Fox's thriller PHONE BOOTH, with VFX by Asylum, connected with U.S. moviegoers over the weekend to debut in first place with $15M. PHONE BOOTH had been pulled from its Nov. 15 slot during the Washington D.C. sniper crisis because of the scene in the film in which Colin Farrell's character is pinned down in a Manhattan phone booty by a sniper. Audiences needed WHAT A GIRL WANTS from Warner Bros., VFX work done by Cinesite, enough to give the newcomer second place at $12M.

Seth Green will join the original SCOOBY-DOO cast of Freddie Prinze Jr., Sarah Michelle Gellar, Matthew Lillard and Linda Cardellini, for a live-action/CGI feature sequel to last summer’s live-action blockbuster comedy hit in a new mystery adventure set for release on March 26, 2004, according to Dan Fellman, president of domestic distribution, Warner Bros. Pictures. Production begins April 14 with director Raja Gosnell, screenwriter James Gunn and producers Charles Roven and Richard Suckle of Mosaic Media Group.

Bolstered by the success of it's first Oscar-winning CGI short, THE CHUBBCHUBBS!, Sony Pictures Imageworks is releasing another computer animated short, EARLY BLOOMER, on May 9, 2003. Kevin Johnson created and directed the coming-of-age tale about a tadpole as he tries to fit in with his mischievous pond pals. The short began as an in-house training exercise at SPI under the guidance of exec director of training and artist development, Sande Scoredos, for its animators and effects artists to work on the latest methods and new tools to explore visual storytelling.

Celebrate the 15th anniversary of the groundbreaking live-action/animated classic WHO FRAMED ROGER RABBIT? by picking up the deluxe Vista Series 2-disc DVD set and an exclusive VHS bonus edition of the film available from Touchstone Home Ent. for the suggested retail price of $29.99 DVD and $19.99 VHS. Directed by Robert Zemeckis and produced by Steven Spielberg, the landmark comedy mystery starred

Feeling nostalgic for FUTURAMA, Matt Groening's fractured futuristic family that starting airing regularly in primetime on FOX April 6, 1999? Now you can buy the first year of episodes on FUTURAMA VOLUME ONE DVD COLLECTION from Fox Home Entertainment. The collectable three-disc set features lively commentaries from Groening and the rest of the crew, deleted scenes, a featurette, animatics, a script/storyboard and an interactive still gallery for the suggested retail price of $39.98. FUTURAMA chronicles the adventures of Philip J.

Hitting theaters in the U.S. March 28, 2003, Paramount Picture's action film THE CORE relied on many visual effects houses to help depict the unnatural events taking place around the world due to changes in the earth's rotational inner core, resulting in catastrophic events for some of the world's most recognizable city scenes and monuments.

The U.S. weekend box office was lower than usual as more people stayed home to watch the Iraq conflict, the NCAA men's basketball tournament and the Academy Awards. Four new contenders couldn't take BRINGING DOWN THE HOUSE away from its top position as the Buena Vista release stayed in first place for a third straight weekend taking in roughly $16.2M for $83.4M. DREAMCATCHER from Warner Bros. debuted at $15.3M.

Walt Disney Picture's gift for the start of spring and a safe film for parents to take their kids to is PIGLET'S BIG MOVIE, opening in theaters across America March 21, 2003. The second ever original animated Pooh feature created for the big screen, it follows in the successful footsteps of the 2001 release of THE TIGGER MOVIE. The Hundred Acre Wood characters have appeared in four previous theatrical featurettes, three Disney Video Premiere releases, four holiday-themed primetime television specials and two TV series.

BRINGING DOWN THE HOUSE from Buena Vista stayed in top place for a second straight weekend taking in roughly $22.4M for $61.6M in just 10 days. The Frankie Muniz teen-spy flick AGENT CODY BANKS, with vfx by Pixel Magic and Eyetronics, debuted in second place with $15M. THE HUNTED (vfx supervisor was Eric Brevig, ILM did primary effects), bagged third place with $13.5M. TEARS OF THE SUN, with visual effects by ILM, dropped to fourth place with $8.8M and a $30.8M cume.