Chris Wedge will direct Brian Selznick's magical children's novel THE INVENTION OF HUGO CABRET, per VARIETY.
Writer John Logan (THE AVIATOR) will write the live-action film for Graham King's GK Films, Johnny Depp's Infinitum Nihil and Warner Bros. King and Nihil's Christi Dembrowski will produce the No. 1 NEW YORK TIMES 2007 bestseller. GK Films and Warner Bros. acquired the screen rights that same year.
Universal Pictures is putting together a horror-themed THE KNIGHTS TEMPLAR, per VARIETY.
A spec script from Adam Torchia and Justin Stanley has been picked up for Marc Platt and WANTED director Timur Bekmambetov to produce.
Plot follows the infamous organization of fighters from the Middle Ages, the Knights Templar, who, fresh off the Crusades, must fend off an invading vampire army set on destroying the Holy Grail.
Torchia is an assistant story editor in Universal's story department, and sold the script STRANGE MAGIC to Alcon Ent. last year.
THE SPIRIT is the much-anticipated feature film adaptation of Will Eisner's legendary comic-strip of the same name. It is a visually striking action-adventure-romance directed by Frank Miller, the acclaimed creator of the graphic and gritty 300 and SIN CITY.
FUEL is the largest visual effects vendor on the project, with just more than 300 shots in production, and created all the visual effects shots for the teaser trailer -- which is the very first look at any images from the film.
Learning not only how to build a flying suit of metal, but how to recoup a truckload of money, IRON MAN handily won the weekend box office with $99 million in its debut weekend, ending May 4.
The Paramount film's vfx are by ILM, The Orphanage, The Embassy, Gentle Giant Studios, Lola Visual Effects, Pixel Liberation Front and Stan Winston Studio. Including the Thursday night shows, the film has a total gross of $102M.
Following a huge, $100 million-plus opening weekend for its first film IRON MAN, Marvel Studios has announced their schedule through 2011, per VARIETY.
As rumored, the IRON MAN sequel will bow on April 30, 2010, the first summer weekend of the year. THOR is also headed for a '10 opening on June 4. Matthew Vaughn is set to direct the film about the Norse god who wields a giant hammer.
Rick Yune, Naomie Harris and Ben Miles have joined the cast of NINJA ASSASSIN, produced by the Wachowskis and directed by James McTeigue, per THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER.
The martial arts actioner stars Korean singer/superstar Rain, who is also appearing in the Wachowski-directed SPEED RACER, as a man brought up in an orphanage that serves as a "ninja farm." He turns his back on tradition to make his way in the world, bringing him into conflict with a ninja (Yune) from the clan.
Celador Films, a U.K. indie production house, and French-owned, U.K. based Pathe are reuniting for a sequel to hit THE DESCENT, according to THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER.
The low-budget horror flick earned $57 million at the box office, not bad for a movie that cost less than $10 million to make.
While the first film was directed by Neil Marshall, Jon Harris will helm DESCENT 2. Harris edited the first. James Watkins wrote the script, and Marshall and Christian Colson will produce.
India's ANIMATION XPRESS is reporting that GHATOTHKACH - MASTER OF MAGIC will screen at Cannes. It's a 90-minute 2D animated film by Mumbai-based Shemaroo Ent. and Hyderabad-based Sun Animatics.
"Through this, we hope to make people believe that good content can be produced in India. It is also for promoting the film and making people all over the world aware about the character," said Smita Maroo, head of animation at Shemaroo.
When Iron Man needs a high-tech suit of armor, he calls The Embassy Visual Effects. The Vancouver-based CG specialists were selected to create one of the incredible digital suits for the Paramount Pictures/Marvel Studios blockbuster using cutting-edge computer animation.
Oscar nominee Robert Downey Jr. uses The Embassy's suit to escape a gang of ruthless kidnappers in one of the movie's most exciting sequences.
The full trailer for THE DARK KNIGHT is now available online worldwide at www.thedarkknightmovie.co.uk
The follow-up to the action hit BATMAN BEGINS, THE DARK KNIGHT reunites director Christopher Nolan and star Christian Bale, who reprises the role of Batman/Bruce Wayne in his continuing war on crime.
AtomFilms has just released a hard-to-find Don Hertzfeldt short film, LILY AND JIM. It's the story of two stick figures who encounter some unusual problems on their first date.
THE SIMPSONS MOVIE director David Silverman will develop and direct THE PET, a live-action sci-fi family comedy for Disney, per THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER.
Scott Rudin and Craig Perry will produce, Sheila Hanahan Taylor and Mark Roybal are executive producing and Brigham Taylor and Casey Wolfe are overseeing for Disney.
Matt Lieberman wrote the script, which is about an average guy who becomes the pet of a group of aliens.
Opening tomorrow, IRON MAN could already have a sequel, if the movie does well, that is.
ENTERTAINMENT TONIGHT chatted with Viacom exec. chairman Sumner Redstone and Paramount CEO Brad Grey at the IRON MAN premiere, and said if the movie does as well as expected, the studio will look to release a sequel in 2010.
COMINGSOON.NET speculates that IRON MAN 2 could feasibly open on April 30, 2010, essentially giving it the same opening as IRON MAN. THE CHRONICLES OF NARNIA: THE VOYAGE OF THE DAWN TREADER has claimed the first summer weekend that year, May 7.
Senator Ent. will produce CLOCK TOWER for Weinstein Co. per VARIETY. Martin Weisz is set to direct the Capcom bestselling survival horror video game series.
Senator's Marco Weber will produce. Eric Poppen wrote the script. The hero in CLOCK TOWER must solve puzzles and use her surroundings to hide while following the story line.
The late Japanese director Kinji Fukasaku (BATTLE ROYALE) directed the third game in the series, CLOCK TOWER 3.
20th Century Fox has obtained the rights sci-fi thriller video game ZERO-G, per THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER. The project is still in conceptual form at Union Ent., but will revolve around a major U.S. city being attacked by a devastating, never-before-seen weapon.
Fox is eyeing the project as a tentpole. Union's Richard Leibowitz, Temple Hill Ent.'s Wyck Godfrey and Marty Bowen and the Gotham Group's Ellen Goldsmith-Vein are producing.
Weekend Update! New release BABY MAMA, with Tina Fey and Amy Poehler, opened strong with $18.3 million, winning the box office for the weekend ending April 27.
Stoner comedy HAROLD AND KUMAR ESCAPE FROM GUANTANAMO BAY (New Line, vfx by Reality Check Studios) won the number two slot with $14.57M.
Lionsgate's THE FORBIDDEN KINGDOM slipped to third with a second-week haul of $11.23M and a total gross of $38.255M. VFX were by Macrograph, DTI, Footage, Asia Legend, Xing Xing, Svengali, Illusion Arts, Stingray VFX, Digiscope and Frantic Films.
Universal Studios has optioned Oni Press comic series RESURRECTION by ELI STONE co-creator Marc Guggenheim, according to THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER.
Universal's Scott Stuber is producing along with Eric Gitter of Closed on Mondays Ent., the producing arm of Oni Press.
The story centers around the aftermath of an alien invasion, in which the human survivors try to take back control of the planet.
Illustrated by Dave Dumeer, the comic was first published in October, with the third issue recently released.
NewsaRama has a detailed interview with Lisa Henson, daughter of the late Jim Henson that can be viewed here
It discusses several projects Jim Henson Productions have been working on.
Warner Bros. Pictures will release Part One of HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS on November 19, 2010, per ComingSoon.net.
Part Two will follow sometime in summer 2011.
The official announcement from Warners earlier this year saying the studio was splitting up the final HARRY POTTER book did not have a firm date.
David Yates (HALF-BLOOD PRINCE and ORDER OF THE PHOENIX) will direct a Steve Kloves script with returning stars Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint and Emma Watson.
Director Brian De Palma's THE FURY, a 1978 supernatural horror flick, is being revived by Fox 2000, per VARIETY.
Fox has hired Brian McGreevy and Lee Shipman to write a contemporary reimagining of the film, to be centered on a young man with heightened kinetic powers who is abducted by the government.
The original starred Kirk Douglas and John Cassavetes, was released by 20th Century Fox and was based on John Farris' 1976 novel of the same name.
Mike Weber will executive produce; Ted Field will produce via his Radar Pictures.
CP Productions and Mississippi-based Ghostrider Ent. will co-finance a slate of 10 horror films over the next three years, per VARIETY.
CP Prods. Principals Michael Cerenzie and Christine Peters have started a genre division for the films, which are expected to be budgeted at between $8 and $20 million.
Eric Thompson, who most recently ran Maverick Films' genre label Maverick Reds, will head the new division. He came to CP when he signed his Doomsday Twins Productions label to a first-look deal with CP.
IMAX and Warner Bros. Pictures have crossed the $400 million mark at the IMAX box office with films released through the partnership between the two companies.
Since June 2003, Warners has released 16 titles in IMAX's format, five of which were in IMAX 3-D, including two live action pictures that were partially converted into 3-D with IMAX's proprietary 2-D to 3-D conversion technology.
VIZ Media will partner with NCM FATHOM to present the epic action anime hit BLEACH THE MOVIE: MEMORIES OF NOBODY in more than 300 theaters across the country on June 11 and 12.
PAN'S LABYRINTH director Guillermo del Toro has signed on to direct THE HOBBIT and its sequel for New Line-MGM.
This is a major step forward for the LORD OF THE RINGS prequels, which had been held up in litigation for several years.
The official announcement came Friday from executive producers Peter Jackson and Fran Walsh, New Line president Toby Emmerich and Mary Parent, chief of MGM's Worldwide Motion Picture Group.
VARIETY reports Israeli actress Ayelet Zurer will portray Italian scientist Vittoria Vetra in Columbia Pictures' DA VINCI CODE prequel ANGELS & DEMONS.
Tom Hanks will reprise his role as religious art scholar Robert Langdon. Vetra becomes entangled with Langdon as they attempt to sort through a mystery surrounding two groups with powerful and ancient roots: the Illuminati, the most powerful underground organization in history, and the Catholic Church.
Ron Howard will be back to direct the prequel from an Akiva Goldsman script.
