AWN Headline News

In 2001 when Tommy Tallarico and Jack Wall created Video Games Live, no one knew whether audiences would be interested in a concert of videogame music or whether the videogame generation actually go to an orchestral concert. However, in July 2005, the critics were silenced when the first concert filled the famed Hollywood Bowl making it the biggest videogame concert in history.

E-Saan Software Park, a Thai software development agency in this northeastern province, and Singapore-based 3 View Group will jointly develop an animation and multi-media business to penetrate overseas markets, reports ETNA.MCOT.Net.

E-Saan Software Park director Panupong Wanjantuk said that the Animation and Multimedia Innovation Centre (AMIC) under the supervision of Khon Kaen University is coordinating with 3 View Group under a business plan to create job opportunities and generate income.

CASINO ROYALEs new James Bond, Daniel Craig, has joined the cast of THE GOLDEN COMPASS, the first film in a planned New Line trilogy based on the Philip Pullman series HIS DARK MATERIALS, reports VARIETY. Chris Weitz wrote the script and will direct.

Craig will play Lord Asriel, a ruthless and mysterious adventurer who is the uncle of Lyra Belacqua, the young girl who journeys to a parallel universe to save her best friend.

Epic Games and Electronic Arts Inc. have entered into a license agreement for EA to adopt the Unreal Engine 3 for use in several next-generation titles that are currently under development. With the largest studio operation in the world, EA employs a variety of engines, tools and technologies to best serve the needs of each game and development team.

Deep-voiced actor Tony Jay, whose many roles included villainous Judge Frollo in Disney's 1996 THE HUNCHBACK OF NOTRE DAME, died Sunday following microsurgery to remove a non-cancerous tumor from his lungs.

The British-born Jay, who provided voices in many videogames, was admitted to Cedar Sinai Hospital in April and had begun to recover both his breathing and mobility.

Universal Pictures has tapped NIGHTWATCH director Timur Bekmambetov to make his English-language debut with the sci-fi actioner, WANTED, according to THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER. James McAvoy, who made a big impression as Mr. Tumnus, the Faun, in THE CHRONICLES OF NARNIA: THE LION, THE WITCH AND THE WARDROBE, will star.

DreamWorks Studios announced that Johnny Depp and Tim Burtons SWEENEY TODD, based on the award-winning Stephen Sondheim musical thriller, is set to begin production early next year for a late 2007 release.

In the co-production with Warner Bros., Depp will star as the titular Demon Barber of Fleet Street. Walter Parkes and Laurie MacDonald will partner with Richard Zanuck and John Logan to produce the screenplay adaptation by Logan (THE AVIATOR). Paramount will distribute for DreamWorks domestically and Warner Bros. internationally.

Cartoons are twice as effective as mothers at soothing the pain felt by children, a study has shown, reports THE TIMES ONLINE.

The research team at the University of Siena that carried out the study said that many techniques had been tried to distract children during medical procedures, like having a blood sample taken. They included hypnosis, relaxation and desensitisation, as well as toys such as kaleidoscopes, puppets and even virtual reality glasses.