Lena Headey (THE BROTHERS GRIMM) has been cast as the title character in FOXs pilot, THE SARAH CONNOR CHRONICLES, based on the TERMINATOR franchise, reports VARIETY. The Warner TV production transpires in the time between the second and third feature where Sarah and her son, John, battle various attackers from the future. Josh Friedman is penning the pilot from which David Nutter will direct.
Garnering a high six against seven figures, screenwriters Brandon Camp and Mike Thompson (DRAGONFLY) have sold their latest untitled supernatural thriller pitch to Universal Pictures, according to VARIETY.
The story centers on a woman who after she moves to a small town is confronted by her past.
Scott Stuber and Mary Parent via their Universal-based Stuber/Parent company will produce with the writers exec producing. Stuber/Parent are working on the film TRAVELING with Camp and Thompson.
Lindsay Lohan has picked the thriller, I KNOW WHO KILLED ME, as her next project, VARIETY reports. Lensing is set to begin next month.
Chris Sivertson will direct the film from a script by Jeff Hammond. 360 Pictures president Frank Mancuso is set to produce. TriStar Pictures will handle U.S. distribution.
The story follows Aubrey Jordan, an abductee of a serial killer, who upon her rescue claims to be someone else and that Aubrey is still in harms way.
Roger Corman and John Davison have announced that they are producing the $20 million sci-fi flick, SPACE 3001, according to THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER. The film will be partly financed through Irish government subsidies. The film companies on the project include New Horizons, Cormans Concorde Anois and Cowboy Outfit Llc., in conjunction with the Dublin-based Merlin Film Fund run by Kieran Corrigan. Sam Straider penned the screenplay. Production is set to begin in the spring.
SPIDER-MAN fans will get a long-awaited sneak peek at Columbia Pictures' highly anticipated SPIDER-MAN 3 when a new, full-length, two-and-a-half minute trailer debuts in a special unprecedented "road block" across Viacom Inc. 's brands and on the CBS Television Network on Nov. 9, at approximately 10:00 pm. SPIDER-MAN 3, starring Tobey Maguire and directed by Sam Raimi, kicks off next summer's moviegoing season on May 4, 2007.
South Korean star Jun Ji-hyun has signed on to make her English-language debut in the live-action remake of BLOOD: THE LAST VAMPIRE, titled BLOOD VAMPIRE, according to THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER. Ronnie Yu (JET LIS FEARLESS) is directing.
The $30 million production will be produced by Bill Kong and France's Pathe Ent.
Jun starred in the Korean blockbuster IL MARE, which was remade as Warner Bros. THE LAKE HOUSE.
D2 Software, Inc. announced that its NUKE compositing software was used extensively by Digital Domain on Clint Eastwoods FLAGS OF OUR FATHERS and the directors parallel film, LETTERS FROM IWO JIMA, which tells the story of the same battle from the Japanese perspective and is scheduled for release Feb. 9, 2007. Digital Domain compositors relied heavily on NUKEs 3D environment capabilities and extensible architecture to create photorealistic landscapes, battle elements and soldiers for nearly 760 VFX shots spanning both films.
Jeff Small exits Revolution as its coo to join DreamWorks Studios as coo.
"We are excited about Jeff joining DreamWorks," said Stacey Snider, co-chairman/ceo. "I know Steven Spielberg and all of us here look forward to having this talented executive on our team. His range of experience at all levels of a studio which I recognized firsthand when we were both at Universal will be an asset throughout the company."
Small oversaw Revolution's business and legal affairs, finance, physical production and administration.
Vicon House of Moves brings motion capture one step closer to real life for digital animation outfit Pendulum with the ability to capture the entire performance of an actor, including face, body and hands, while simultaneously recording the performer's voice-over and giving the actor complete freedom of movement.
Jedis, Wookies, Sith and droids are coming to Comcast Digital Cable with On Demand in HD. Beginning this month, all six STAR WARS films will be available in HD clarity any time customers want to watch them with Cinemax HD On Demand, nine days before the movies air on the Cinemax HD cable channel.
Cinemax and Cinemax HD kick off a weekend marathon of all six movies on Nov. 10, 2006, at midnight with Star Wars: Episode I The Phantom Menace, concluding on Nov. 13 with STAR WARS: EPISODE VI RETURN OF THE JEDI. The films will air at additional times throughout November.
Paramount Vantage has obtained the rights to A.N. Wilson's novel A JEALOUS GHOST, attaching Kirsten Dunst as star and producer, according to THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER. Film 360, Management 360's feature film firm, will also produce. Megan Holley (SUNSHINE CLEANING) will adapt.
360's Ben Forkner brought the book to Dunst in 2005, which they developed along with her manager, 360's Eric Kranzler and Holley, after which they pitched the project to Paramount Vantage.
With the addition of a bachelors degree at the recently endowed John C. Hench Division of Animation & Digital Arts at the USC School of Cinematic Arts, undergraduates can now take advantage of an international and multicultural program that focuses on animation in all its forms.
Devil's Due Publishing has bought film, TV and merchandising rights to R.A. Salvatore's fantasy novel series, DEMONWARS, according to THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER.
The eight-volume series, which was first published in the late '90s, is set in the magical world of Corona, where organized religion controls society.
Universal Pictures-based Rogue is set to distribute Paul W.S. Anderson's adaptation of Konami classic videogame, CASTLEVANIA, reports VARIETY. Rogue will handle the rights in North America as well as the U.K., Spain and German-speaking territories. Producer and co-financer Crystal Sky will control the rights in the rest of the world.
The $50 million film, written by Anderson, takes place in multiple eras, mainly transpiring in 15th century Transylvania. This take on the Dracula legend will utilize elements from the real life story of the Romanian prince Vlad the Impaler.
Animation and digital effects studio Pendulum has been pursuing the challenge of believable 3D characters and digital acting by dedicating substantial R&D efforts toward creating a unique solution for this growing need in the entertainment industry. Partnering with the mocap experts at House of Moves, the Pendulum team is diving deep into the complex realm of high-end digital actors with the development of its new proprietary facial motion capture software, and a uniquely powerful 3D character creation pipeline.
Cinesite has been responsible for providing visual effects supervision and 20 effects shots on the major new conspiracy thriller, STATE WITHIN, which airs on BBC1 beginning Nov. 2, 2006.
This six-part BBC miniseries follows British Ambassador to the U.S. Mark Brydon (Jason Isaacs) in the wake of a major international incident. Set inside diplomatic circles, the thriller follows Brydons attempts to uncover the truth about a devastating plane crash and unmask the invisible puppeteer who appears to be playing him.
We closed out October with Karen Raugusts in-depth report on Indias maturity as a VFX force to be reckoned with. The article contains some nice QuickTime demo reels, too. Meanwhile, in terms of new movies, Alain Bielik talks to Tippett Studios and Furious FX about their CG magic on Disneys THE SANTA CLAUS 3. And Brad Blackbourn and Frank Passingham, the virtual cinematographers from DreamWorks and Aardman on FLUSHED AWAY, tell us all about the challenges of the layout/cinematography approach in marrying the two worlds.
Bill DesowitzEditor
Warner Bros. Ent. has released HARVEY BIRDMAN, ATTORNEY AT LAW, VOL. 2 on DVD. The two-disc set features 13 episodes, nine of which contain commentary by voice actors as Stephen Colbert, John Michael Higgins, Gary Cole, Peter MacNicol, Paget Brewster and Chris Edgerly.
Other bonus features include unaired scenes, a music video for Hey Mr. Passerby, a behind-the-scenes look at the making of the series and the evolution of a scene, Fun With Audio segments and Clothes-less Animation Pass. The DVD sells for $29.98.
THE MATRIX masterminds Larry and Andy Wachowski are set to write and direct a long-in-development, live-action version of SPEED RACER, reports the trades. The project will reunited the brothers with their MATRIX collaborators -- producer Joel Silver, exec producer Grant Hill and visual effects supervisor John Gaeta.
Based on Tatsuo Yoshidas classic 1960s anime series, the story will chronicle the adventures of the young racecar driver Speed as he strives for fame and glory in his pimped out vehicle, Mach 5.
Robert Schwentke (FLIGHTPLAN) is in final talks to helm New Lines adaptation of Audrey Niffeneggers novel, THE TIME TRAVELER'S WIFE, according to THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER.
The sci-fi romance follows a couple in which the man is inflicted with a genetic disorder that involuntarily propels him to travel through time. Jeremy Leven penned the screenplay.
Brad Pitt, Dede Gardner and Nick Wechsler are producing. Richard Brener and Michele Weiss are shepherding.
Silicon Imaging, with help from CineForm and Intel Corp., unleashed a 2K Digital Cinema camera system intended to revolutionize movie and HD production. The Silicon Imaging SI-2K will shoot footage directly to disk, at either 1920x1080P HD or 2048x1152 cinema resolutions running on motherboards integrated into the camera or on laptop computers powered by Intel Core 2 Duo processors. Captured footage is instantly editable using CineForm's Prospect 2K realtime visualization and colorization software.
Universal Pictures has bought the film right to Neal Shustermans novel, EVERLOST, reports VARIETY. Gary Ross will develop the project via his Larger Than Life company with the option of directing it. Shusterman adapt his own book. Allison Thomas and Naketha Mattocks will produce.
The book follows two teenagers, who are transported to a netherworld after a car crash where they do not know if they are still alive. In Everlost, the teens meet other young people from different historical periods, some of who have wicked motives.
Due to Universal Pictures and 20th Century Fox pulling out of the project, Peter Jacksons WingNut Films and Microsoft have had to halt production on the feature adaptation of the videogame, HALO, despite reports earlier that said they were continuing without studio backing.
WingNut Films has released the following statement regarding the halt in production.
Kristin Lowe has been promoted to vp, production, Universal Pictures, overseeing the day-to-day production activities for many of the studio's most anticipated films, including CHILDREN OF MEN, THE KINGDOM and BREACH.
Lowe joined Universal Pictures in 2004 as director of development, following a stint as director of development at Warner Bros. Pictures, She joined WB in 2002 as a creative exec after posts both at MGM and Michael Bay Films.
Autodesk Inc. announced the first creative tools extension for its Autodesk Toxik 2007 software, containing advanced features for image transforms, filtering and warping. Toxik is used to create feature film visual effects, offering 2D and 3D compositing tools, integrated collaboration and the ability to manipulate high-resolution, high-dynamic range (HDR) imagery with ease. The software has been used to shape such several feature films as SILENT HILL and THE FOUNTAIN.
