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Headline News

Stuart Little II Writer Named

The writer behind GHOST and DEEP IMPACT will be writing the second installment of STUART LITTLE. Bruce Joel Rubin will have to be typing like a madman to meet the proposed Christmas 2001 release date for the STUART sequel. The star of the first picture, Geena Davis, is reportedly committed to STUART II, but it is yet unknown if director Rob Minkoff will return. However, the current US$136.9 million at the U.S. box office might be a convincing enough number to lure him.

Animation Headline News

Bardel Brings Silverwing To The Big Screen

Bardel Animation Limited has secured the rights to bring the young adult adventure SILVERWING to the big screen. SILVERWING, a novel by Ken Oppel, follows the coming-of-age tale of Shade, who is in search for his father. The book has sold more than 250,000 copies internationally and still remains on the bestsellers' list two years after its initial publication. Ken Oppel will help develop the story with Bardel Animation.

Headline News

Live-Action Tomb Raider Lead

Oscar nominee Angelina Jolie is in final discussions to play buxom cyber-hero Lara Croft in TOMB RAIDER, a live-action feature based on the mega-hit video game. The Paramount project is set to begin production this summer, with director Simon West (CON AIR, THE GENERAL'S DAUGHTER). Jolie is up for the Best Supporting Actress Oscar for GIRL, INTERRUPTED, a film for which she has already won the Golden Globe. Known for playing wild and tough women, Jolie's star is on the rise and can easily play Croft, who is described as a female Indiana Jones.

Marvel Headline News

Daredevil & Spider-Man Directors

Mark Steven Johnson is in talks to pen and direct DAREDEVIL, the live-action adaptation of the Marvel Comics superhero franchise. The project originally started at Fox where directors such as Chris Columbus and Carlo Carlei developed the production. Now based out of Columbia Pictures, comic fan Johnson will breathe life into the story of the blind lawyer who uses his other, heightened senses to fight for justice. Marvel moved DAREDEVIL from Fox, because the studio is already busy putting together the Marvel titles X-MEN, FANTASTIC FOUR and SILVER SURFER.

Headline News

Planet Of The Apes Gothic Director

Tim Burton is going ape over the chance to remake 20th Century Fox's 1968 sci-fi classic PLANET OF THE APES. If the final negotiations finish as planned, Burton could be helming Fox's big picture for summer 2001. Rumors have attached names like Oliver Stone, Chris Columbus, James Cameron and Arnold Schwarzenegger to the project. In development since 1993 (longer than it took to make the original and four sequels), Bill Broyles has written the newest and hopefully final version of the new APE flick.

Series Headline News

Toy Story's Buzz On TV

A new television series based on TOY STORY's Buzz Lightyear character will be coming to ABC and UPN in October. Walt Disney Television Animation is producing 65 episodes of BUZZ LIGHTYEAR OF STAR COMMAND -- 52 for UPN's "Disney's One Too" and 13 for ABC's Saturday morning lineup. Pixar will produce the CGI opening, but the series itself will be traditional 2D animation. Taking on voice duties as Buzz will be SEINFELD's Patrick Warburton, who's also starring in the live-action THE TICK series.

Shows Headline News

Snoopy Cursing Like The South Park Kids?

"They'll end up being like SOUTH PARK or something like that," said Charles Schulz's son Monte regarding the future of his father's PEANUTS comic strip, in an Associated Press article by Mary Ann Lickteig. Before Schulz's death, he strictly left instructions that nobody else could draw THE PEANUTS strip and the animated shows must end. In regards to honoring their father's wishes, Schulz's children's concern centers around United Media, who holds the copyrights on the PEANUTS characters.

Series Headline News

Creator Smith Steaming Over Clerks' Future

Director Kevin Smith is steaming over the treatment ABC has given his new animated series version of his cult-classic film CLERKS. After Disney owned ABC pushed back the premiere of the new series to May 31, 2000, Smith said the summer release date "almost ensures the show's failure" due to the traditionally low TV ratings of the summer months.

Software Headline News

New Jobs: Animators, Digital Artists and Tech Support/Producion Management

Dream Theater is seeking an ART DIRECTOR to work on the creation of

concepts, presentation materials and the refinement of design

directions in production. . . Hammerhead Productions is looking for

SENIOR ANIMATORS 2D/3D/TD for feature film visual effects. . . San

Francisco, California-based Attik is looking for a SENIOR ANIMATOR. .

. Monterrey, N.L. Mexico post-production house PubliK is looking for

a creative 3D SGI ANIMATOR. . . The Chimney Pot (Sweden) is seeking a

Headline News

Ottawa 2000 Presents Selection and Jury Members

The Ottawa 2000 Independent Film Competition will be selected by

festival organizers. The Commissioned Films Competition will be

selected by Curtis Crawford (Canada), Chris Landreth (US), Pjotr

Sapegin (Russia) and Andrei Svislotski (Russia). The Ottawa 00

International Jury will be comprised of Suzanne Gervais (Canada),

Wendy Jackson Hall (US), John Hays (US), Priit Parn (Estonia) and Jin

Guo Ping (China). Jury member bios are now available on the festival

Animation Headline News

FPS Celebrates British Columbia Animation

FPS magazine

has posted another article in its new Festival Review

section. In "The Celebration of BC Animation," Leslie Bishko reviews

the event which presented an impressive 25-year retrospective of

independent animation in Vancouver last October.

You can subscribe to FPS and all your favorite animation publications

directly from the Internet 24 hours a day! Available in AWN's

Animation Headline News

A Closer Look: Are Schools Selling Out?

Two weeks ago, AtomFilms announced that it has locked the first-ever,

exclusive, on-line distribution deal with the University of Southern

California (USC) School of Cinema-Television to broadcast student

films from the illustrious film school's catalog, giving USC students

a worldwide public venue for showcasing their work. As part of the

deal, for the next 18 months, USC will provide AtomFilms with

exclusive on-line distribution rights to 100 student titles which

Show Headline News

More Stations Ax God The Devil & Bob

The new NBC animated sitcom, GOD THE DEVIL AND BOB, has been given the ax by five more stations across the U.S. NBC affiliates in Shreveport, Louisiana, Tupelo, Mississippi and Boise and Twin Falls, Idaho have moved the show to a late night time slot, while Pocatello, Idaho has completely pulled the show from its line up. Joining Salt Lake City which last week pulled the show from its schedule, the additional stations are in strict contrast to NBC's grand premiere of the series on Thursday, March 9, 2000. Currently, the show is positioned between the network's top shows FRIENDS and FRASIER.

Company Headline News

CINAR's Stock Stops Trading

In the midst of an on-going legal scandal and the departure of its head execs, CINAR Corp.'s stock plummeted CA$18.65 (US$12.86) to CA$8.35 on the Toronto Stock Exchange Tuesday, March 7, 2000. In addition, the stock fell 12-5/8 to a new 12-month low of 5-3/4 on the Nasdaq. Volume was more than 18 million shares on the Nasdaq, far more than usual for the often thinly traded stock. The stock continued to crumble on Wednesday, March 8, 2000 falling nearly 75% off its initial worth at the beginning of the trading week. In turn, the stock was not traded at all on Thursday, March 9, 2000.

Animation Headline News

SOFTIMAGE Ships SOFTIMAGE|3D 3.9

SOFTIMAGE has announced that the latest upgrade to their flagship SOFTIMAGE|3D animation system was available for download from their Web site. This upgrade represents a milestone for SOFTIMAGE, as it is the first upgrade the company has chosen to distribute on-line (rather than wait 6-8 weeks for reproduction, duplication and distribution).

Games Headline News

Alias|Wavefront Releases Maya Real Time SDK

Alias|Wavefront released Maya Real Time SDK (Software Developers Kit) at the Game Developers Conference in San Jose. The new release demonstrates the first comprehensive "Art to Engine" solution for creating interactive content on next-generation games platforms. The Maya Real Time SDK is designed to allow games developers to deliver film quality characters and graphics in their titles for new games platforms such as PlayStation 2.

Million Headline News

Snow Slips, Pitch Black Steady At 5th

With strictly live-action fare reigning the U.S. box office, SNOW DAY slipped to sixth place, while PITCH BLACK remained steady in fifth place. Paramount's kid-pic, with special effects by Curious Pictures, fell from #2, grossing US$4.8 million this past weekend and bringing its total gross to $49 million. USA Films' PITCH BLACK, with primary visual effects by Double Negative Ltd. and The Chandler Group, clocked in at #5 for the second straight weekend, grossing $5.07 million raising its total gross to $29.7 million.

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