Category: Visual Effects

Walden Media, New Line and ContraFilm have signed on for a sequel to last year's JOURNEY TO THE CENTER OF THE EARTH, reports VARIETY.

The sequel to last year's summer hit will be based on Richard Outten's script MYSTERIOUS TRAVELS: THE LOST MAP OF TREASURE ISLAND in which Professor Trevor Anderson and his nephew travel on a journey to a mysterious island that was the subject of three classic novels: MYSTERIOUS ISLAND (Jules Verne), TREASURE ISLAND (Robert Louis Stevenson) and GULLIVER'S TRAVELS (Jonathan Swift).

Bob Rafei and Dan Arey, founders of Big Red Button Entertainment (BRB), have entered into a strategic partnership with Emergent Game Technologies. The partnership will position Emergent as BRB's central technology resource and enhance BRB's creative vision, exceptional team and game design prowess. Marc Jackson, founder of Seahorn Capital, orchestrated the partnership and his team will continue to play a key role in building a strong foundation for this ground-breaking collaboration.

The first feature-length film from 3D Entertainment's filmmakers Jean-Jacques and Francois Mantello (the Mantello Brothers), OCEANS 3D - INTO THE DEEP (working title), has been acquired by Wild Bunch, a Paris-and London-based sales, distribution and production outfit.

The film is set to become the first ever documentary to be both filmed and released in Digital 3D. The deal marks the first collaboration between the two companies. Under the terms of the agreement, 3D Entertainment retains the rights (all-media) for the U.S. and Canada.

Marvel Studios confirmed Thursday that Sony Pictures Entertainment will release SPIDER-MAN 4 on May 6, 2011. Additionally, Marvel Studios has revised the release dates for THOR and CAPTAIN AMERICA as part of its release strategy for an uninterrupted road to THE AVENGERS, now debuting May 4, 2012.

A Marvel character-based film will now launch the summer box office season for three years in a row, from 2010 through 2012.

Mike Jones' screenplay THE MINOTAUR TAKES A CIGARETTE BREAK from Steven Sherrill's novel was optioned by The Gotham Group, reports VARIETY.

THE SPIDERWICK CHRONICLES producer Ellen Goldsmith-Vein and Lindsay Williams will produce. Sherrill's 2000 book is about the mythical half-man, half-bull minotaur who, instead of succumbing to Theseus 3,000 years ago, now lives in a Wichita trailer park and works as a short-order cook at a run-down diner.

Producers are looking for a director for the live-action project.

Take-Two Interactive Software posted a higher loss for the first quarter of the year, blaming high marketing costs, development and legal fees despite stronger sales.

Net revenue for the first quarter of 2009 was $256.8 million, compared to $240.4 million for the same quarter of fiscal 2008. First quarter sales were led by GRAND THEFT AUTO IV, CARNIVAL GAMES, NBA 2K9 and MIDNIGHT CLUB: LOS ANGELES.

At the 2009 Game Developers Conference (GDC), Autodesk will showcase its latest middleware and art creation tools for building innovative game experiences. Daily presentations at the Autodesk Booth (#5716) will highlight how the company's solutions have helped artists create AAA titles, such as FIFA SOCCER 09, WARHAMMER ONLINE: AGE OF RECKONING, PRINCE OF PERSIA and JAMES BOND: QUANTUM OF SOLACE. Industry visionaries and technology experts will also host four free Autodesk MasterClasses and six free Autodesk-sponsored training sessions during the show.

Allegorithmic, an emerging 3D technology company developing advanced texturing tools for real-time 3D content creation, has announced that Substance Air is now in its final stage of beta and is scheduled to launch April 2009. A new texturing middleware for the development and distribution of online and downloadable games (MMOs, Free2Play, and XBLA/PSN), Substance Air allows game developers to dramatically reduce the size of downloadable applications while providing the ultimate solution for advanced user-generated content.

Gameloft has signed a licensing agreement with The Halcyon Company to develop, distribute and publish the official mobile game to the first film of the new TERMINATOR trilogy, TERMINATOR SALVATION. The game will be available day and date of the film release on May 22, 2009.

NBC Universal Global Networks will launch Sci Fi into the Philippines on March 13, 2009. The move is part of NBCU Global Network's continued channels expansion in the Asia Pacific region and central to the company's growth objective, led by Roma Khanna, President, Global Networks & Digital Initiatives.

NBCU Global Networks has appointed Solar Entertainment Corporation to be its channel distributor as well as its advertising sales representative for Sci Fi in the Philippines.

New Regency and 20th Century Fox have purchased the pitch for futuristic actioner LAST MAN from David Ayer, who will write and direct, according to VARIETY.

The story will be about a captain assigned to protect an outpost on a distant planet who must lead a group of young American soldiers into battle against aliens. The pitch was sold in a seven-figure deal.