AWN Headline News

Time Warner sister companies HBO and New Line Cinema have acquired independent distributor Newmarket Films and hired its chief, Bob Berney, to run a new venture, reports REUTERS. Newmarket is best know for taking the risk in releasing Mel Gibsons THE PASSION OF THE CHRIST, which earned more than $350 million at domestic box offices via grass-roots marketing aimed at religious groups. Other big releases for Newmarket included WHALE RIDER and MONSTER.

The long anticipated North American launch of Sonys PSP (PlayStation Portable) has arrived. Sony shipped one million units of its $250 handheld gaming, movie and music player, but expects expect those to sell out quickly.

"We expect to see a sellout within the first week," said Andrew House, evp of Sony Computer Entertainment America, said to CNN. "The early indications were that pre-orders were very high. But, we have a very good product flow... into April and beyond. Production started at 150,000 units a month and we're ramping up to double that very quickly."

Warner Bros. Pictures has entered into an agreement with NeoPets Inc. to develop and produce animated feature films based on new stories and characters from the virtual world of Neopets.com, the world's leading online youth community.

Dylan Sellers will produce the projects with Doug Dohring, chairman/ceo of, NeoPets. Warner Bros. Pictures' Aditya Sood will oversee production for the studio. NeoPets will co-finance development.

Animated heroes from the collection of Pixar films presented by Disney are bringing action and adventure to McDonald's restaurants nationwide in support of the recent release of THE INCREDIBLES DVD. Running until April 14, 2005, with the purchase of a Happy Meal or a Mighty Kids Meal, guests will receive one of eight retail-size action figures from various films. The Disney Presents Pixar Pals McDonald's Happy Meal lineup includes Mr. Incredible and Dash from the Academy Award-winning THE INCREDIBLES; Nemo and Dory from the Academy Award-winning FINDING NEMO; Mike Wazowski and James P.

With VFXWORLD editor Bill Desowitz off in London visiting the CORPSE BRIDE set, Im taking over to give readers a look at whats new and coming on the site. We have coverage of the #1 film in the U.S. THE RING TWO as well as the Game Developers Conference. Additionally, Chris Panzner ponders the future of 3D will it move into holograms?

CG training facility Escape Studios has joined forces with some of the U.K.'s biggest post-production facilities to develop a course that will provide the houses with new talent. Cinesite, Double Negative, Framestore CFC, Glassworks, the Mill and The Moving Picture Company (MPC) have been working closely with Escape to develop an intensive seven-month program called the VFX | Production Grade. The course comprises five months of full-time training along with a two-month work placement.

Principal photography is underway in Sydney, Australia on Warner Bros. Pictures highly anticipated SUPERMAN RETURNS. The film is scheduled to shoot in and around Sydney, Australia through mid-August 2005 and will be released by Warner Bros. Pictures on June 30, 2006.

Budding animators will stand a chance to see their story come alive on Animax! announced today, the Q & T Storyboard Competition organized by Animax Asia the first-ever 24-hour Japanese Animation Channel and the Media Development Authority of Singapore (MDA) will give animation talents a regional platform to showcase their work.