AWN Headline News

The remake of John Carpenters THE FOG (with vfx by Hydraulx) debuted at number one at the box office for the weekend ended Oct. 16, 2005, with Sony/Revolution collecting $11.7M. Coming in a very close second with $11.5M was DreamWorks/Aardmans WALLACE & GROMIT: THE CURSE OF THE WERE-RABBIT. The stop-motion gem (with vfx from MPC) now has a two-week cume of $33.1M. Debuting in third place was Cameron Crowes romantic comedy, ELIZABETHTOWN (with vfx from Digital Filmworks and Flash Film Works), which offered up $10.6M to Paramount.

DIC Ent. has gone public on London's AIM market under the symbol DEKEq.L. The stock became available on Oct. 14, 2005, and by closing was up 3% at 255-1/2 pence, giving DIC a market capitalization of about 108 million pounds ($188.8 million). DIC raised 17.4 million pounds as part of the listing and shareholders saw a further 13 million by selling down their stakes. Bridgewell serves as an adviser and broker to DIC.

Results airing coming out of MIPCOM Jr. with Millimages and Method Films SKYLAND topping the list of the most requested series at the event, taking place in Cannes, France. The series holds the top two spots with Millimages screenings at #1 and Method Films at #2. Marathons TEAM GALAXY come in third followed by Planet Nemos BALI at #4. Rounding out the top ten were BRBs BERNARD, Warner Bros. BEN 10, Animation Collective and MTVs KAPPA MIKEY and Breakthrough Ent.s CAPTAIN FLAMINGO.

VIZ Media Llc. (VIZ Media) announced the further expansion of its popular SHONEN JUMP brand with the launch of the SHONEN JUMP Home Video Line. This new line will offer several highly anticipated anime titles on DVD, based on popular series that originally appeared in the SHONEN JUMP monthly manga anthology. The first two titles offered will be HIKARU NO GO in Dec. 2005 and NARUTO in March 2006.

Anchor Bay Ent. has named Kaoru Mfaume as managing director for Manga Ent. He recently held the post of vp acquisitions for the company.

Anchor Bay is proud to have Kaoru as part of our team, stated Ted Green, ceo of Anchor Bay. He is a true leader within the anime world and has co-produced a number of top-selling anime titles including STREET FIGHTER: ALPHA GENERATIONS, DEAD LEAVES and GHOST IN THE SHELL: STAND ALONE COMPLEX. His unparalled vision and leadership will help us develop this genre to its fullest potential.

Pesky and Bejuba! Ent. and Studio B Prods. have begun production on the animated series, THE AMAZING ADRENALINI BROTHERS! Created by U.K.-based Pesky, this seven-minute formatted series of 26 half-hours is aimed at kids 6-12 and will air on ITVs prime Saturday morning slot, CITVs Ministry of Mayhem. The series is also set to debut on YTV in Canada, and on Cartoon Network. Bejuba! Ent. holds television distribution rights with Studio B holding digital rights to the series.

Producers Michael G. Wilson and Barbara Broccoli, MGM and Sony Pictures Ent. have made it official Daniel Craig has been cast in the role of the legendary British secret agent, James Bond, in the highly anticipated 007 adventure thriller CASINO ROYALE.

MTV Networks announced that it has acquired IFILM, the leading, Internet provider of short films and news and other video clips, for $49 million, reports REUTERS. As part of the deal, IFILM will remain under the control of its current ceo, Blair Harrison, and will retain its editorial independence.

MTV plans to grow IFILM's current reach to more than 10 million users a month and boost advertising revenues by cross-promoting IFILM on other MTV-owned websites and offering MTV content on IFILM.

IDT Ent. Sales will handle worldwide sales for its computer-generated animated feature film Yankee Irving, which it will begin selling at the American Film Market. The film set to be released in U.S. theaters in August 2006, by 20th Century Fox. The film features an all-star cast, including Rob Reiner, Whoopi Goldberg, William H. Macy, Brian Dennehy, Mandy Patinkin, Robert Wagner, Richard Kind, Raven-Symone, Dana Reeve, and Joe Torre and introduces Jake T. Austin, 10, as the voice of the title character.