Exceeding even the initial record-breaking estimate by $3M, Disneys PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: DEAD MANS CHEST (with cutting edge vfx by ILM) broke out with an astounding $135.6M over the three-day weekend ended July 9, 2006. This swats SPIDER-MANs $114.8M. Other records smashed include best single and opening day ($55.8M), beating REVENGE OF THE SITHs $50M, and fastest to $100M (two days flat).
Academy Award-winning actress Angelina Jolie will join Jack Black, Jackie Chan, Lucy Liu, Dustin Hoffman and Ian McShane in the cast of the computer-animated comedy, KUNG FU PANDA. The DreamWorks Animation film will reunite Jolie and Black who voiced lead characters together in the 2004 animated comedy, SHARK TALE.
SmashPhone, a mobile phone comic strip network, announced it's bringing Amy DeZeller's DATING AMY and Chris Muir's DAY BY DAY comic strips to mobile phones everywhere. Viewers may access the SmashPhone Comic Strip Network through Verizon, Cingular, Sprint, T-Mobile and many other carriers. The comics are served by SmashPhone for free (although phone company data charges may apply).
THQ Inc. has released three new games, including MOTOGP '06 for Xbox 360, JUICED: ELIMINATOR for PSP and TITAN QUEST for PC.
Developed by Climax, MOTOGP '06 is rated "E" for Everyone and is available worldwide for $59.99.
The Right Stuf Intl (TRSI) has launched a special episode of ANIME TODAY, the first commercial podcast aimed at anime and manga enthusiasts, covering the biggest anime convention in the U.S. Anime Expo.
ANIME TODAY is rated one of the top 100 podcasts of all TV & Movie podcasts subscriptions on Apples iTunes competing against major podcasts by corporate moguls such as Cartoon Network, Fox and HBO. ANIME TODAY fans have been raving about the show since its initial debut last November.
Samuel L. Jackson has leapt on board Regency Enterprises' sci-fi thriller, JUMPER, according to THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER. Doug Liman is set to direct.
Based on the Steven Gould novel, the tale follows a kid from a broken home who discovers that he has the ability to teleport. As he searches for the man he believes is responsible for the death of his mother, the kid draws the attention of the National Security Agency and another youth with the same abilities.
In Denver, a federal judge has ordered four companies to stop selling cleaned-up edits of Hollywood films, finding that the practice violates federal copyright law, VARIETY reports.
The decision by Judge Richard P. Matsch ends this chapter in a four-year legal battle that began when Utah-based CleanFlicks issued a preemptive suit against the DGA and 16 leading directors, which included guild prexy Michael Apted, Steven Spielberg and Martin Scorsese hoping to obtain a positive court ruling allowing them to alter films.
Nicktoons Network, Nickelodeons 24-hour animation network, hits the open road this summer with the Nicktoons Network Mobile Tour, a five-city tour helping to celebrate its third annual NICKTOONS NETWORK ANIMATION FESTIVAL (NNAF).
The HELLO GARCI video is now on Google Video, reports INQ7.net. The short animation features excerpts from Philippines President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo's alleged phone conversation with Commission on Elections Commissioner Virgilio "Garci" Garcillano as she manipulate the results of the 2004 elections in her favor.
D7 Studios has launched the first chapter of its new animated adventure series, D7PEACEMAKER REVELATION, in multi-platform release, including High Definition, DVD, iPod and Internet download at www.D7.com. The online version of the series allows the viewer to watch and interact with additional scenes, giving more insight into specific characters and foreshadow events to come.
India's prolific film industry is projected to reach revenues of $3.3 billion by 2010, reports REUTERS. As it rides new technologies and a booming economy, the Indian industry will see an expansion of 18% per year, stated an industry lobby.
India produces nearly 1,000 films a year, second only to the U.S. However, the industry remains fragmented and largely opaque, with formal funding still limited and profits rare.
ANTICS V2 IS THE FASTEST AND EASIEST TO USE 3D ANIMATED PRE-VIZ SOFTWARE AVAILABLE for Creatives who make Films, Commercials and TV Program
Side Effects Software, developer of the award-winning Houdini family of 3D software, released Houdini 8.1. This new version features an animator-friendly Auto Rig, Muscle System, Character Picker and Pose Library. Enhancements to the Rigid Body and Wire dynamic solvers and support for the importing of Collada files are also included in this latest release.
Bejuba! Ent. Inc., Snowden Fine Prods. and Studio B Prods. Inc. have announced that RICKY SPROCKET SHOWBIZ BOY will air on Nickelodeon channels in the U.K., Australia, Latin America, Germany, Italy, France, Spain and Scandinavia in the fall of 2007 and Nicktoons Network in the U.S. The series, created by Alison Snowden and David Fine, the Oscar-winning team behind BOB AND MARGARET, will be co-produced with Vancouvers Studio B Prods. Inc. and distributed by Bejuba! Ent. Inc.
AFA Academy for animation training has opened in Coimbatore, India. This is the only institute in Tamilnadu and will be teaching basic drawing to 3D animation. The offered courses are 2D animation, 3D animation, multimedia and fine arts. They will be taught at an international level so that the students will be trained for international companies.
The Christian media company Good News Holdings is developing a horror film franchise based on the upcoming DUDLEYTOWN series of teen novels by Bodie Ingelvie, VARIETY reports. Good News previously optioned Anne Rice's biblical epic about Jesus.
Good News will team with Illinois-based Bible publisher Tyndale House Publishers on DUDLEYTOWN, which is set in a town that is deserted following a series of disappearances and murders.
Atari Inc. announced the company has signed a deal with Playlogic Ent. to distribute the new action-adventure role-playing game AGE OF PIRATES: CARIBBEAN TALES throughout Europe, the U.S. and Asia. The game is scheduled for release for the Windows platform in September 2006.
ASIFA-Hollywood is hosting a screening of Disney/Pixars CARS on Friday, July 14, 2006, at 7:30 pm.
Lightning McQueen (voice of Owen Wilson), a hotshot rookie race car driven to succeed, discovers that life is about the journey, not the finish line, when he finds himself unexpectedly detoured in the sleepy Route 66 town of Radiator Springs.
Twentieth Television has cleared Seth MacFarlanes hit Emmy Award-winning animated sitcom, FAMILY GUY, on the Tribune Broadcasting station group for a fall 2007 launch in off-net syndication.
Spanish 3D school Sintesys has launched a new 3D chat online as a service directed to its website users and school students.
In order to develop strategies and partnerships throughout India, Sesame Workshop will be forming a non-governmental organization called NGO based in New Delhi. Turner India, which produces GALLI GALLI SIM SIM along with Sesame Workshop, has contributed corporate social responsibility funds toward the establishment of the NGO. The office will drive GALLI GALLI SIM SIM's outreach projects and manage its network of collaborative partnerships with other NGOs, funding partners, consumers, government agencies, educational institutions, broadcasters and production team members.
Nexus Prods. has completed a series of animated short films for Animal Planet, Italy.
The films, written and directed by Bessy & Combe, Carolina Melis and Celyn, range from one to three minutes and feature a break dancing cat, a snake-impersonating giraffe and some stampeding mammoths.
The three episodes of MAGIC CAT, directed by Celyn, each tell a tale of a little boy, Paulo, and his sometimes surreal adventures with a mysteriously appearing cat who seems to be able to bend space and time at will.
Starz sets sail on special adventures with Johnny Depp and Walt Disney Pictures eagerly anticipated PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: DEAD MANS CHEST on July 6, beginning with BLOW at 9:00 pm, FINDING NEVERLAND at 11:15 pm and the exclusive special, PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: DEAD MANS CHEST on July 7 at 1:00 am.
Former Earthlink exec William Widmaier has been appointed president of New Media for Platinum Studios to expand the studios presence online.
Nate Kirtman has been named to the newly created position of vp, NBC Universal Television Group Publicity, re-joining the department in Burbank, California, following communications roles at GE's corporate headquarters and Aviation business.
"We are fortunate that Nate will be re-joining our team," said Rebecca Marks, evp, NBC Universal Television Group publicity, to whom Kirtman will report. "Nate's affable style, diverse experience and organizational acumen will be key assets as the NBC-U Television Group continues to expand its horizons."
