Luc Besson, The Waterhorse, & Alien Vs. Predator 2
Tingler Remake Gets Project Greenlight Writers
(scifi.com) Columbia Pictures is developing a remake of Vincent
Price's 1959 horror classic The Tingler, Variety reported. The studio,
along with Neal Moritz's Original Pictures, has hired screenwriting
team Patrick Melton and Marcus Dunstan to update the script. The pair
is best known for writing the horror film Feast, which was chosen as
the focus of the third season of Project Greenlight.
In the original Tingler, Price plays a mad scientist who discovers a
creature that attacks people from inside when they are afraid. He uses
the creature to literally scare people to death. Columbia and Moritz
started developing the remake in 2003, with Greg Pace on board as
screenwriter. But the project stalled and was inactive before Melton
and Dunstan were brought on board.
Academy Disqualifies Luc Besson CG Anim Film
(cinematcial.com) According to Cartoon Brew, "Arthur and the
Invisibles" (Minimoys) is being officially disqualified from
consideration for Best Animated Feature. The film, which is part live
action and part animation, apparently has less animation than first
anticipated -- under 75%. While this is a blow for Luc Besson and the
Weinsteins, it is also a blow for the possible nominees, unless the
people behind the golden statues bend the rules. Before Arthur's
removal, there were 16 eligible features, and 16 is the magic Oscar
number, as Scott Weinberg told us in November. When there are at least
16 options, there are 5 nominee places. However, when the eligible
number dips below 16, we only get 3.
KNB Wiz Greg Nicotero Joins Darabont on 'The Mist'
(movies.monstersandcritics.com) Production is heating up on
the Stephen King novella, "The Mist" adapted for the screen by Frank
Darabont, who is also directing the film. Actor Thomas Jane will play
David Drayton, announced as Darabont's leading man, with production
scheduled to commence February 20th.
Howard Berger, Robert Kutzman and Greg Nicotero's massive shop, KNB
EFX, which has won every conceivable award under the sun for their
creature creations and whip smart special effects, are inked to handle
all of the creature practical FX.
KNB principal Greg Nicotero also serving as Darabont's 2nd-unit
director. Nicotero has made the jump from special fx makeup to 2nd
unit directing in other projects, notably on George A. Romero's "Land
of the Dead".
Darkwoods Productions is producing, with Café FX confirming they're on
board, with Visual effects supervisor Everett Burrell. Darabon't "The
Mist" has a projected opening of November 21, 2007.
Is Steve Jobs Untouchable?
(msnbc.msn.com) In Silicon Valley, Steve Jobs is admired for
many things: His storybook resuscitation of Apple Computer Inc., his
billion-dollar-plus fortune, his rock star status as the driving force
behind iconic products such as the iPod. Near the top of the list is
Jobs's famed ability to spin what admiring techies refer to as a
"reality distortion field" to win consumers over to the Apple view of
the world.
But will it work with government regulators? As Jobs prepares to wow
the masses once again with his keynote at the annual Macworld trade
show on Jan. 9, skepticism abounds among options experts, as well as
techies, that the Apple chief executive is totally in the clear over
his role in resetting start dates for company stock options. A report
issued on Dec. 29 by a two-member special committee, composed of no
less than former Vice-President Al Gore and tough-minded finance
veteran Jerome B. York, "found no misconduct" by Jobs or other
managers. Yet it acknowledged that he knew about some of the 6,428
option grants handed out between late 1996 and early 2003--roughly 15%
of the total in that time--that were improperly dated to give
employees an artificially low price. On some occasions, Jobs even
recommended the dates.
More: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/16488399/
VFX Storyboards from 'The Waterhorse' On Myspace
(kongisking.net) Director Jay Russell is updating his MySpace
website more times than the average 14 year old schoolgirl. Take a
look at a ton of very cool pre-production images from New Zealand and
Scotland! The talent behind the camera on this project continues to
impress; mega-producer Barrie Osborne (The Matrix, LOTR Trilogy),
Production Designer Tony Burrough (Hotel Rwanda, A Knight's Tale), Art
Director Dan Hennah (King Kong, LOTR) & Visual Effects Guru Joe
Letteri (King Kong, LOTR).
Take a look: http://www.myspace.com/jayrusselldirector
Former Pine Forest Student Puts Polish On 'Night at the Museum'
(pensacolanewsjournal.com) Long after the popcorn is eaten and a
handsome hero saves the day, the closing credits roll to an emptying
movie theater.
The big names may blaze across the big screen as a film begins, but in
the end, credit is given to the countless individuals who toil behind
the scenes to make movie magic.
Jordan Schilling, a 2002 graduate of Pine Forest High School, is now
one of them.
The 23-year-old served as a digital compositor on the current box
office hit, "Night at the Museum," and is credited among assistant
producers, gaffers, lighting technicians and data wranglers in its
long list of participants.
"We saw the movie recently, and by the time Jordan's name appeared,
the only other person left in the theater was the guy with the broom,
waiting to clean up," said Schilling's mother, Janet Schilling of
Pensacola, laughing. "But it was still a thrill for his dad (Logan
Schilling) and me."
As a digital compositor, Schilling was responsible for 18 or so shots
in "Night at the Museum," which stars Ben Stiller as a security guard
at a museum where exhibits come to life at night.
But what is a digital compositor, exactly?
"Good question," said Schilling.
More: http://www.pensacolanewsjournal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070105/LIFE/701050315/1004
LucasArts Loses Traxion
(totalvideogames.com) LucasArts has today confirmed the
cancellation of 'Traxion' to a US-based publication. Speaking with
Game Informer, the California-based outfit announced that the title,
which was being developed by Kuju, had been cancelled by mutual
consent with the UK studio.
In a comment, representatives from LucasArts said: "Kuju and LucasArts
have mutually agreed to sever their relationship with respect to the
development of the Traxion product."
'Traxion' was set to utilise mp3 music tracks from a PSP Memory Stick
Duo to create levels on-the-fly.
VFX Supes Direct: Alien vs. Predator 2 Behind-the-Scenes
(comingsoon.net) The ReelzChannel has aired a new
behind-the-scenes look at 20th Century Fox's Alien vs. Predator 2, in
theaters on December 21. The show "Dailies" talked to directors Greg
and Colin Strause about the action-adventure which they say will be
rated R, compared to the first installment which carried the PG-13
rating.
Take a look: http://www.comingsoon.net/news/movienews.php?id=18267
VFX Films Capture Weekend Box Office
(LAtimes.com) HOLLYWOOD -- Movie audiences embraced two wildly
different styles of science fiction over the weekend, as the comic
fantasy "Night at the Museum" stayed No. 1 at the box office and the
critically acclaimed futuristic thriller "Children of Men" drew large
crowds.
Twentieth Century Fox's "Night at the Museum," starring Ben Stiller,
led the industry for the third straight weekend by adding $24 million
in the United States and Canada, according to Sunday's studio
estimates.
"Museum" appears to be a bona-fide blockbuster that will ultimately
top $200 million in domestic receipts. No film has led the box-office
derby for four straight weekends since "The Lord of the Rings: The
Return of the King" more than three years ago -- a feat "Museum" could
match next weekend.
"Pan's Labyrinth" posted strong results in its second weekend of
limited release. The Spanish-language movie, whose distributor is a
joint venture between New Line and HBO Films, averaged $16,500 per
theater in 44 engagements after expanding in Los Angeles.
Berney described writer-director Guillermo del Toro's dark fantasy --
which over the weekend was named the year's best picture by the
National Society of Film Critics -- as "`The Lord of the Rings' meets
Picasso's `Guernica."'
Industrywide, revenue was up about 2 percent from a year earlier.
Receipts rose about 4 percent in 2006 as Hollywood bounced back from
its 2005 slump.
Animation Firm Overhauls Bandwidth
(vnunet.com) Aardman Animations is expanding its internet links
to allow it to send and receive larger files from its US partners.
The Bristol-based animation studio, which created Wallace and Gromit
characters, is expanding its current internet bandwidth from 4Mbit/s
to 10Mbit/s.
As Aardman's business develops it is increasingly making feature films
and TV series with partners around the world, says its head of IT,
Paul Deane.
'Most of our traditional model animation is now shot digitally and
with our growing computer generated Imagery business we are having to
deal with huge volumes of production data,' he said.
'Ntl:Telewest Business has provided us with a large increase in the
speed of our internet access which allows our co-production teams in
the UK, the US and Canada to share files.'
'The ability to do this is critical to our business as we work on more
of these collaborative projects.'
