Episode III will further connect the STAR WARS saga, bridging the prequel trilogy to the original trilogy bringing back familiar faces and places in the new STAR WARS film, which is currently in pre-production. Reprising their classic roles from the original trilogy are actors Peter Mayhew as Chewbacca the Wookiee, Anthony Daniels as C-3PO, and Kenny Baker as R2-D2.

Actor Louis Gossett Jr. (ENEMY MINE, TOY SOLDIERS, AN OFFICER AND A GENTLEMAN), has signed on to the voice cast for the independent 3D animated fantasy/adventure film DELGO from Fathom Films. He joins a star-studded cast including Val Kilmer, Michael Clarke Duncan and Eric Idle. Gossett is voicing the character King Zahn, a benevolent but cautious leader whose plans for his people’s future are hindered only by his attachment to the past. Marc F. Adler, producer/co-director, said Gossett's voice is, "unique and the creativity he lends to his performance is inspiring.

Traditional animators' worst fears were realized as David Stainton, Disney's recently appointed head of feature animation, told the 525 animation employees gathered April 28, 2003 that he wants them to produce lush, classic fairy tales entirely on computers, according to a profile on the Disney exec in THE LOS ANGELES TIMES. Animation Website forums and chat rooms have been abuzz for some time about Disney possibly eliminating traditional animation altogether at its Burbank, California studio.

Sony/Revolutions' ANGER MANAGEMENT held its first place position at the weekend box office in the U.S., taking in another $25.6M to rack up at total of $80.6M in its first two weeks of release. Sony Pictures Imageworks and The Orphanage did VFX for ANGER.

Atlanta-based Fathom Studios is orbiting closer to Hollywood by signing Val Kilmer, Eric Idle and Michael Clarke Duncan to join the voice cast of its independently produced computer-animated film, DELGO. The first full-length CG flick from a U.S. indie has been receiving lots of online attention as Fathom posts digital dailies on its Website, www.delgo.com. The fantasy adventure is about troubled youth and some unlikely friends who must save the world from itself.

Warner Bros. is developing an English language, live-action version of anime classic AKIRA, according to THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER. A Warner Bros. spokesman confirmed Warner Bros., has hired comic book writer James Robinson (THE LEAGUE OF EXTRAORDINARY GENTLEMAN for Twentieth Century Fox Films) to adapt the script from director Katshuhiro Otomo's 1988 movie masterpiece.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.