Image Engine's work on THE INCREDIBLE HULK began with a visual effects test in early 2007. The studio completed one representative shot, tracking a hand-held anamorphic plate, digitally replacing and extending the environment, and animating Hulk interacting with the buildings and various objects in the scene.
Len Wiseman will direct New Line's GEARS OF WAR, based on Microsoft and Epic Games' hit video game, per VARIETY.
Chris Morgan is writing a new version of a script originally penned by Stuart Beattie. Morgan's credits include the upcoming WANTED from Universal and THE FAST AND THE FURIOUS: TOKYO DRIFT.
Fans have been speculating for nearly a year that Wiseman would be selected; the game was featured in his most recent film LIVE FREE OR DIE HARD, but talks with New Line happened only in the past few months.
Last weekend's box office topper owes a lot to the creativity of an artist who has been quietly toiling away for years, bringing to life a vast collection of unforgettable creatures and fantastical worlds in the likes of BATMAN FOREVER, HOW THE GRINCH STOLE CHRISTMAS, MEN IN BLACK, THE NUTTY PROFESSOR and WAR OF THE WORLDS. With the release of THE INCREDIBLE HULK, it's time fans and filmmakers alike knew about the talents of Aaron Sims.
Universal's THE INCREDIBLE HULK won the box office (ending June 15) with a $54.414 million (actuals) opening weekend. The Edward Norton-led film's vfx were by Gentle Giant Studios, Giant Studios, Hydraulx, Image Engine Design, Lidar Services, Lola Visual Effects, Rhythm and Hues and Soho VFX.
KUNG FU PANDA (DreamWorks, vfx by PDI DreamWorks) earned $34.612M in its second weekend for second place. The animated comedy's cume is $117.290M.
Fox's THE HAPPENING (vfx by CafeFX, ILM, Quantum Creation FX and The Third Floor), opened in third place with $30.517M.
Slated for worldwide theatrical release in 2009, ASTRO BOY will feature the voices of Academy Award-winning actor Nicolas Cage, Donald Sutherland, Nathan Lane, Bill Nighy and Eugene Levy with Freddie Highmore in the title role. David Bowers is directing ASTRO BOY from a screenplay written by Timothy Harris, with Maryann Garger producing.
Screenwriter Lawrence Kasdan was hired by Warner Bros. to pen ROBOTECH, an adaptation of the anime classic, per THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER.
Akiva Goldsman and Chuck Roven will produce, joining Tobey Maguire and Drew Crevello. ROBOTECH was a 1980s cartoon series from Harmony Gold USA and Tatsunoko Productions. It was re-edited and re-dialogued to combine three Japanese anime series, enough for daily syndication.
BlueArc Corporation, a leader in scalable, high-performance unified network storage, announced that Toronto-based vfx creator Soho VFX turned to a BlueArc storage solution for the superhuman task of bringing Marvel Comics' characters to life in this weekend's box-office smash, THE INCREDIBLE HULK.
The Walt Disney Studios together with Chinese filmmakers Castle Hero Pictures and Ying Dong Media announced today at the Shanghai International Film Festival, that they are combining creative forces to make a movie tentatively titled TOUCH OF THE PANDA.
Universal has bought the rights to the children's book series DRAGONOLOGY by Dugald A. Steer, according to THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER.
The mock nonfiction books will be adapted by Leonard Hartman, who will write and exec produce.
Steer's novels follow the premise that dragons actual exist, revealed by Victorian dragonologist Ernest Drake, and should be studied the same as any other rare series.
Amanda Peet has been cast as the female lead in Roland Emmerich's epic disaster project 2012, per THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER.
Peet joins a cast already led by John Cusack, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Thandie Newton, Danny Glover and Oliver Platt. The film's plot starts with a global apocalypse and what the survivors do after the fallout.
Peet will play Cusack's ex-wife who has re-married a wealthy man. Cusack's character is a divorced dad trying to become a writer while working as a limo driver.
Summit Ent. is venturing into the comic book adaptation arena with the acquisition of WildStorm/DC Comics' RED, per THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER.
Brothers Erich and Jon Hoeber are penning the script for the action film, which will be produced by Lorenzo di Bonaventura and his longtime exec Mark Vahradian. This marks the first time a DC Comics title won't be produced by parent company Time Warner.
DC is however remaining active in this adaptation. DC SVP of Creative Affairs Gregory Noveck will serve as exec producer and will oversee RED.
Sid Ganis has hired writer Rita Hsaio (MULAN, ENCHANTED) to write the script for the big-screen adaptation of 1960s series I DREAM OF JEANNIE, per THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER.
Ganis is producing though his Out of the Blue Ent. shingle with Alex Siskin. Bob Simonds and Phoenix New Millennium's Michael Viner will exec produce.
Hsaio wrote MULAN for Disney and also rewrote 2007's ENCHANTED for the studio.
Full service visual effects studio I.E. Effects will provide visual effects and stereoscopic 3-D compositing for the upcoming feature film, LITTLE HERCULES 3D.
Judd Nelson, John Heard, Elliot Gould and Hulk Hogan join 10-year-old body builder Richard Sandrak to star in the family film about a young boy of immeasurable strength who travels from Mt. Olympus to live in Los Angeles.
"We...look forward to providing what will be the first 3-D experience to many of the film's younger moviegoers," says I.E. Exec Producer and Co-Founder David Kenneth.
The full-length STAR WARS: CLONE WARS trailer is now online at http://starwars.com/.
The film hits theaters August 15, 2008.
Columbia Pictures and Sony Pictures Animation have obtained the motion picture rights to the SMURFS from Lafig Belgium S.A. via producer Jordan Kerner.
The parties will develop a live action/animated major motion picture based on the iconic and lovable sky-blue classic characters.
David Stem and David Weiss are in negotiations to be brought on board to write the screenplay. Stem and Weiss are the award-winning screenwriters behind SHREK 2 and 3, and other notable animated projects including THE RUGRATS MOVIE, and JIMMY NEUTRON: BOY GENIUS.
A stuntman was killed and six people were injured Monday during second-unit filming on director John Woo's THE BATTLE OF RED CLIFF, per VARIETY.
For the most expensive movie in Chinese -- and Asian -- history, the death of the 23-year-old is another unfortunate setback. Production has been hampered by everything from cast changes to bad weather.
IMAX and DreamWorks Animation announced that KUNG FU PANDA: The IMAX Experience opened with strong box office results at IMAX theatres over the three-day weekend from Friday June 6, through Sunday June 8.
The film grossed $2.3 million on 89 domestic IMAX screens and six international IMAX screens, for a per-screen average of approximately $24,000. The film will continue to open in international locations in the weeks ahead, ultimately playing on 36 international IMAX screens.
DreamWorks' animated KUNG FU PANDA hauled in $60.24 million (actuals) at the weekend box office ending June 8, winning its opening weekend. Special effects on the Jack Black-led comedy were by PDI DreamWorks.
Adam Sandler's YOU DON'T MESS WITH THE ZOHAN (Sony, vfx by The Orphanage, Gentle Giant Studios, Lola Visual Effects and Stan Winston Studio) laughed its way to an expected No. 2 with $38.53M in its opening weekend.
Leonardo DiCaprio is attached to star in ATARI, a film about the godfather of the video game industry, Nolan Bushnell, per THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER.
Writers Brian Heckner and Craig Sherman sold Paramount the story on Friday. DiCaprio's Appian Way shingle is producing; filmmakers hope the movie will incorporate elements from MR. SMITH GOES TO WASHINGTON and TUCKER.
Design and branding studio Shine designed and produced the main title sequence for DreamWorks Animation's new film, KUNG FU PANDA starring Jack Black, Dustin Hoffman and Angelina Jolie.
Moviegoers worldwide are sure to be delighted by the breakthrough animation achieved through the combination of HP technology and DreamWorks Animation's creativity as DreamWorks Animation's KUNG FU PANDA, hits theaters today.
HP also partnered with DreamWorks Animation, Nickelodeon and McDonald's to bring KUNG FU PANDA to life outside the movie theater in fun, interactive ways, including an HP "The Computer Is Personal Again" TV spot featuring Po the Panda, downloadable activities and crafts, and a choreographed "The Panda" dance that the whole family can learn.
IMAX and DreamWorks Animation will release KUNG FU PANDA in 89 domestic IMAX theaters from June 2008 to May 2010. The film opens in theaters today.
The film will also open in 37 IMAX theatres internationally during the days and weeks following the domestic launch. Kung Fu Panda has been digitally re-mastered into the unparalleled image and sound quality of The IMAX Experience with IMAX DMR technology.
The Ice Man Cometh - back. This time in the shape of THOR and the ancient Nordic Gods in a new animated feature film set to burst onto the big screen in late 2010.
THOR, developed by CAOZ, an animation company from Iceland, will now join forces in a co-production with Magma Films of Ireland and their subsidiary Ulysses Films of Germany.
CAOZ is best known for their acclaimed ANNA AND THE MOODS film, which features the voices of Bjork, Terry Jones and Damon Albarn and is an EDDA and Pulcinella Award winner.
THE PIXAR BLOG confirms that Andrew Stanton is currently penning JOHN CARTER OF MARS, the film version of Edgar Rice Burrough's novel.
The film is said to be a mix of live action and animation, a first for Pixar Animation Studios. Stanton is also rumoured to be the director on the project. He has been involved in all eight of Pixar's films as well as the upcoming release WALL-E.
Read the blog exclusive here: http://pixarblog.blogspot.com/2008/06/exclusive-andrew-stanton-confirms-....
Ben Kingsley will play the villain in Disney and Jerry Bruckheimer's feature adaptation of the Ubisoft videogame PRINCE OF PERSIA: THE SANDS OF TIME, per VARIETY.
Kingsley will play Nizam in the fantasy action flick, who plots to kill his brother King Shahrman and blame it on Prince Dastan (Jake Gyllenhaal) so he can take over the throne.
Gemma Arterton and Alfred Molina also are playing leads. The film, under direction from Mike Newell, starts filming in July in Morocco and England and will be released next year.
