Category: Films

Jim Belushi will play the role of the Lion in Alpine Pictures' upcoming DOROTHY OF OZ.

DOROTHY OF OZ is the first in a slated series of animated feature films by Alpine Pictures, in association with Box Office Productions III, based on the writings of children's author Roger S. Baum. Baum's work continues the legacy began by his great-grandfather L. Frank Baum, author of THE WONDERFUL WIZARD OF OZ.

Belushi has voiced characters on movies and TV shows such as HOODWINKED, THE WILD, RUGRATS, SNOW BUDDIES, and THE ADVENTURES OF JIMMY NEUTRON: BOY GENIUS.

Kansas City, Kansas-based MK12 is currently working on the main title sequence for the next James Bond film, QUANTUM OF SOLACE, directed by Marc Forster and starring Daniel Craig. Producers are Barbara Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson.

The studio just wrapped a four-day shoot at Pinewood Studios, directed by Simon Chaudoir. MK12 is also in charge of developing, designing and animating the graphical interfaces throughout the film.

MGM has signed Darren Aronofsky to direct and David Self to write a new installment for its ROBOCOP franchise. Aronofsky, the director of THE FOUNTAIN, and Self, the writer of ROAD TO PERDITION, will get ROBOCOP into theaters in 2010.

Phoenix Pictures' Mike Medavoy, Arnold Messer, Brad Fischer and David Thwaites will produce ROBOCOP. Cale Boyter, Exec VP Production at MGM will oversee the project for the studio.

GEARS OF WAR, set up at New Line since early 2007, is being financed by Legendary Pictures at Warner Bros., per VARIETY.

The videogame from Epic Games and Microsoft will be turned into a motion picture directed by Len Wiseman and written by Chris Morgan (first draft by Stuart Beattie). New Line had pegged it for a summer 2009 release, but WB has not yet dated it.

Director Tim Burton has found his Alice for a big-budget ALICE IN WONDERLAND pic from Disney, per THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER.

Australian actress Mia Wasikowska is in final negotiations to star as the title character in Burton's take on the Lewis Carroll fantasy novel, ending a long search.

Linda Woolverton (THE LION KING) penned the script for the film, produced by longtime Burton collaborator Richard Zanuck, former Disney chair Joe Roth and Jennifer and Suzanne Todd.

Warner Bros.' THE DARK KNIGHT, starring Christian Bale and Heath Ledger, and directed by Christopher Nolan, shattered opening box office records on 94 IMAX screens during its debut. The IMAX release contributed $6.3 million of the $158.4 million that the film grossed at the domestic box office, on a total of 94 North American screens this weekend.

Cineplex Ent. and RealD have signed a long-term agreement to install a minimum of 175 3-D systems into Cineplex Entertainment theatres across the country by December 2009, bringing RealD's committed screen count to well over 5,500.

The commencement of the RealD rollout is dependent upon Cineplex Entertainment entering into a digital deployment agreement to begin the conversion to digital projection.

THE DARK KNIGHT's 12:01 a.m. screenings Thursday night broke a box office record, according to THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER.

Warner Bros. reported Friday that the late night/early morning screenings earned a record $18.5 million, $640,000 of that coming from IMAX screenings.

And, that $18.5M doesn't count the 3 a.m. and 6 a.m. showings that some theaters booked, only the 3,040 theaters screening at midnight.

FrameCycler, with IRIDAS' DualStream stereoscopic technology, played a key role in the vfx pipeline for JOURNEY TO THE CENTER OF THE EARTH. With the additional demands which stereo filmmaking places on visual effects work, effective review and image analysis tools are essential. Christopher Townsend, vfx supervisor on JOURNEY, and artists from several of the facilities involved, spoke recently about the project and FrameCycler's role in the pipeline.

CIS Hollywood, working with VFX Supervisor Mark Stetson on 20th Century Fox's comedy, MEET DAVE, completed 163 effects shots the film directed by Brian Robbins. Dave Ming Chang (Eddie Murphy), newly arrived in New York City, may be the ultimate fish out of water.

RealD 3D, the world's leading 3-D experience, brought in 55 percent of the total box office for Warner Bros. Pictures/New Line Cinema's JOURNEY TO THE CENTER OF THE EARTH, which earned an estimated $21.02 million in its opening weekend.

"We are ecstatic with the performance of JOURNEY TO THE CENTER OF THE EARTH in 3-D. The success of this film is propelling 3-D to new heights and RealD has been a great partner and once again proven its power at the box office," said Dan Fellman, President of Warner Bros. Distribution.

Warner Bros. and Capcom will develop a feature film based on hit video game LOST PLANET from the Japanese publisher, according to VARIETY.

Capcom will co-finance the project, which will be written by David Hayter, who most recently penned Zack Snyder's WATCHMEN for WB.

Avi Arad, Ari Arad and Steven Paul will produce via Seaside Ent., their fantasy-fare shingle.

Released in Japan in 2006 and North America in early 2007, LOST PLANET has sold more than 2 million units, and a sequel is expected.