Metropolis Unearthed, Wall-E Tears Honored, "Fire in the Hole!" Near Lucasfilm...

David Fincher to Produce CG MoCap Feature "The Goon"

(slashfilm.com)                "Feed me, feed me comics," booms
Hollywood. According to TheGoon.com, /Film fave, David Fincher, has
optioned movie rights for The Goon with plans to adapt the Dark Horse
comic book into a CG animated film from Blur Studio. If this news
sounds familiar, back in March it was announced that Fincher would
team with Blur to produce and co-direct a new animated Heavy Metal
anthology flick.

Created by Eric Powell in 1999, The Goon, "tells the adventures of a
muscle-bound brawler who claims to be the primary enforcer for a
feared mobster. The Goon and his sidekick Franky often get tied up in
other machinations, often in relation to the evil zombie gangs. There
is a heavy slant on the paranormal." The crew at Slashfilm is new to
this title. Quint at AICN gives the series a glowing endorsement,
calling it a "Depresson-era Hellboy" but even more twisted.

It wasn't specified whether Fincher, who is expected to lock up the
Oscars with December's The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, would
direct. One would assume not, but clearly his interest in genre fare
is strong. He remains attached to direct a live-action adaptation of
the STD-horror graphic novel Black Hole from screenwriters Neil Gaiman
and Roger Avary. Further back in Fincher's fridge is Image Comics'
Torso.

The film will be pulled off with a motion capture system similar to Beowulf.

Lost Footage of "Metropolis" Surfaces in Argentina

(reuters.com)                           BERLIN (Reuters) - Film historians had doubted they would ever find the missing parts of "Metropolis" -- until three reels of the science fiction movie made in Germany a long time ago, were discovered in a country far, far away.

Two film fans in Argentina uncovered the fragile footage in a small museum, earlier this year -- over eight decades after Fritz Lang's dystopian classic first began to shed scenes.

With its cold, monumental vision of mechanized society, "Metropolis" forged a template for generations of science fiction cinema, and its enduring influence has been cited on films from "Blade Runner" to "Fahrenheit 451" and "Star Wars".

"We were overjoyed when we heard about the find," Helmut Possmann, head of the foundation which owns the rights to the film, the Friedrich-Wilhelm-Murnau-Stiftung, told Reuters.

"We no longer believed we'd see this. Time and again we had had calls about supposed footage but were disappointed."

"Metropolis", which depicts a tumultuous class struggle in a vast, urban society, was the first film to be entered into UNESCO's Memory of the World Register -- which aims to preserve cultural achievements of outstanding significance.

Released in 1927, set a century later, the silent film was not a commercial success and nearly ruined the studio behind it -- according to some estimates, it still ranks as one of the most expensive movies ever made once inflation is factored in.

Soon after its premiere, the movie was heavily cut to make it more accessible, and several new versions emerged. A series of efforts were made to restore the film over the years but roughly a quarter of the film was believed to be lost

However, there were those in Argentina who knew better.

NO HOAX

According to the magazine of German weekly newspaper Die Zeit, Buenos Aires film distributor Adolfo Z. Wilson acquired a long version of "Metropolis" in 1928 which survived as a copy, and finally ended up in the archive of a local film museum.

Having heard tell of the Wilson reels, a couple of cinema aficionados -- one of whom had just taken charge of the archive -- discovered the canisters containing them earlier this year and brought a DVD of the contents to Germany for analysis.

Possmann at the Murnau foundation said the experts had no doubts about the authenticity of the reels.

"We're not being fooled," he said. "The film can now be shown more or less as Lang originally intended it. In terms of understanding what it's about, we'll be seeing a new film."

Although estimates of its original length vary depending on the speed at which it is shown, Possmann said "Metropolis" was conceived as a film lasting just over 2-1/2 hours.

Around 20 to 25 minutes of footage that fleshes out secondary characters and sheds light on the plot would be added to the film pending restoration, he added. But around 5 minutes of the original were probably still missing, he said.

Due to the poor condition of the film stock, it was too early to say how long restoration would take, Possmann said.

"It's taken several years with similar films," he added.

Potter 6 Opens With VFX Swarm of the Undead

(empireonline.com)                            If you recall, the sixth Harry Potter book, Harry Potter And The Half-Blood Prince, isn't the most action heavy of the series, dwelling more on inner turmoil than outer fisticuffs. This will not be the case for the film version.

"We're opening with a big attack," director David Yates told Empire when we visited the set. "It's talked about in the book, but we're going to show it. We'll bring a major London landmark crashing down. It should be quite spectacular".

The opening of the new Potter film (for which you can see an exclusive new image below) will be just one of several scenes created to up the on-screen excitement in the latest movie. Another will be an attack by the Death Eaters (them's the bad wizards) on the Weasley home. But one of the most lasting images from Half-Blood Prince should be the introduction of the inferi, a swarm of undead creatures who guard an item that Harry very much needs to defeat Voldermort and who will turn up in the movie's third act.

"They're horrible," Says the boy wizard Daniel Radcliffe of the beings who look like humans made of only skin and bone and want to get their hands on Harry. "They made me think of bodies from concentration camps. It's that terrible look of a body that's wasted away, but not a skeleton. There will be child inferi too. They're probably the most frightening things of any of the movies so far".

Source:       http://www.empireonline.com/news/story.asp?NID=22861

Pixar Honors the Girl Who Cried at the 'WALL-E' Teaser

(cinematical.com)             Last fall, a young woman named Courtney
saw the WALL-E teaser -- the one where Andrew Stanton talks about the
meeting in 1994 where the story was first conceived -- and was reduced
to a puddle of tears by its adorableness. Seems she has a soft spot
for robots, and in particular for lonely, child-like, wide-eyed
robots. So she videoed herself watching the trailer on her computer,
knowing it would have the same effect on her again, and then she
posted the video on her blog and on YouTube. (We've got it here after
the jump.)

The video made its way around the Internets, as these things do, and
Courtney began to get e-mails from people within the Pixar family who
had seen it and appreciated her enthusiasm. Then one of the film's
producers sent her a Pixar jacket as a Christmas gift, along with a
note thanking her for the video.

And then they invited her to the film's wrap party in San Francisco.

Courtney was elated, as you might imagine. Pixar flew her and her
boyfriend into town and put them up in a hotel. You can read their
account of the evening here, and there are plenty of great details
(including Brad Bird teasing her, "Why don't you cry at any of MY
movies?").

At the event, Andrew Stanton said, "Six months ago, when the first
trailer for WALL-E came out, we were only halfway done with the film,
and we weren't exactly sure how we were going to get it done. We were
exhausted. And then, one day, a movie showed up on YouTube showing a
girl watching the trailer for WALL-E. And every time she watched it,
she would cry on cue. When we saw that, we knew we were on the right
track."

Tears for Wall-E:   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JNAs94d_Ybw

Lucas Co-founded 'Entertainment Tech Center' Launches its Anytime/Anywhere Content Lab

(businesswire.com)                        LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The Entertainment Technology Center (ETC) [www.etcenter.org], a non-profit consortium that brings together top entertainment studios, technology, service and consumer electronics companies to improve consumer attitudes towards future technologies, products and usability, today launched its much-anticipated Anytime/Anywhere Content Lab (AACL). The AACL is a high-tech, hardware-rich real-world test environment built to explore solutions for accelerating the creation, distribution and consumption of digital entertainment. Located near the University of Southern California (USC) School of Cinematic Arts, the lab brings together entertainment, hardware, software and service industries to pool their strengths, tap University resources and identify the opportunities and challenges brought about by digital convergence. Under the direction of David Wertheimer, the AACL is providing an atmosphere to better understand the consumer, focus on how consumers will adapt to and shape digital content delivery, look at how future content will be managed, and identify synergies across industries–with the ultimate goal of improving the consumer experience.

The AACL has already begun to examine and showcase a wide array of new products. Executives from the major studios have been brought in to examine how these products will impact consumers' desires to use these tools anytime, on any device, and anywhere. The Anytime/Anywhere lab is the best place to sit real users alongside entertainment providers to advance the interests of all industry stakeholders: the ones producing digital content for future devices, as well as distributors, network providers, electronics manufacturers, hardware and software companies, service providers and consumers.

"Think of a lab designed to bring together a next-generation consumer with a movie studio decision maker and a Silicon Valley tech executive–all in one place and all talking about what content will be most viewed, where and how–that is the AACL," explains Wertheimer. "In this lab, we will explore these issues with a bent towards solving problems before consumers even know they exist. The very future of companies dedicated to entertainment creation, distribution and consumption depends on their ability to maximize the possibilities while identifying and solving the tough challenges that convergence presents. This lab creates a neutral nexus where consumers and industry can come together to create a future that works for consumers and industry alike."

The AACL will be adding additional exploration spaces as well as hosting industry events in the near future.

"Our goal is to turn the AACL into THE lab with a one-of-a-kind window into fundamental issues impacting the entertainment and technology industries, while offering a wide-range of professional resources, including USC faculty, and equipment," Wertheimer said.

The Entertainment Technology Center @ USC, founded in 1993 with the help of George Lucas, is a non-profit organization within USC's School of Cinematic Arts. The ETC brings together the top entertainment, technology and consumer electronic companies to evaluate what consumers really want, which is then translated to the companies that make technology products. The ETC strives to show how technology impacts the next generation consumer, which will improve the consumer experience and will uncover new revenue streams for entertainment-related products. Current ETC sponsor participants include; Disney, Sony Pictures Entertainment, Twentieth Century Fox, NBC-Universal, Viacom/Paramount, Warner Bros., along with Alcatel-Lucent, Cisco, Deluxe Entertainment Services Group, Inc., Lucasfilm Ltd, Sharp, TATA Consultancy Services, Thomson and Volkswagen of America.

Gore Verbinski BioShock Movie To Release With 3rd Game

(videogamer.com)                  A third game in the BioShock series
could be released to coincide with the BioShock movie.

"It's unlikely that the picture would be released to coincide with
BioShock 2," said Zelnick. "It would be more likely that it would be
released coincidentally with BioShock 3. That also remains to be
seen."

The movie is to be directed by Gore Verbinski who successfully helmed
Pirates of the Caribbean. Other info, including a release window and
cast are still to be announced.

Despite talk of a third game in the series, Take-Two wasn't offering
any new info on the second game, which is still coming to unconfirmed
platforms sometime between August-October in 2009.

The next BioShock title to hit stores will be the PS3 version of the
original game, which is currently scheduled for release in October
complete with new elements.

Space Adventure "Barbarella" A Deal Breaker For McGowan & Rodriguez

(ropeofsilicon.com)                       Sources say Rose McGowan's breakup with her fiancé, director Robert Rodriguez, who we reported last October were engaged, have split, partly over the problems Rodriguez had finding financing for "Barbarella" - the 1968 cult classic in which Jane Fonda played a sexy space adven- turess - with McGowan in the title role.

    Rose McGowan's breakup with her fiancé, director Robert Rodriguez, could be good news for some other actresses, who could end up with the leading roles she was set to play in his movies.

Does this mean McGowan won't be starring in the Red Sonja film that was just announced five days ago? And what about that Barbarella film the two were supposed to do together. I mean, after all, Rodriguez told USA Today recently, "Rose is a pistol. She's whip-smart, has attitude to burn, is sexy, extremely strong, yet has a vulnerable side that would surprise her closest friends. That description also fits Red Sonja."

Does this mean that now that the two aren't together Rose no longer fits the description? Wanna know how petty and meaningless their relationship actually was if any of what the Post says is true?

    But sources say the couple, who we reported last October were engaged, have split, partly over the problems Rodriguez had finding financing for "Barbarella" - the 1968 cult classic in which Jane Fonda played a sexy space adven- turess - with McGowan in the title role.

'Narnia 3' Production Pulls Out Of New Zealand

(variety.com)              Production of the first two pics -- "The
Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe" and "Prince Caspian" -- was largely
based in New Zealand because of government tax incentives. Weta
Digital and Weta Workshop, which created most of the films' effects
and props, also are based in that country.

But producers of the new pic, "Voyage of the Dawn Treader," to be
directed by Michael Apted, needed several large soundstages plus a
massive water tank. Title of the film refers to the ship that serves
as a major set piece.

Because of that, production will move to Rosarito, Mexico, and set up
shop at Baja Studios, where "Titanic," "Deep Blue Sea" and "Master and
Commander: The Far Side of the World" were shot.

Basing the pic mainly in one location also will cut costs, sources
close to the production said.

Location shots in Australia will still be filmed as planned.

Production originally was slated to start in October, but will now
likely begin in January.

"The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe" shot mostly in New Zealand,
while "Prince Caspian" also lensed in Poland, Slovenia and the Czech
Republic. Soundstages were used in Prague.

Lack of studio space has long plagued New Zealand's film council, and
officials have attempted to raise public and private funds to build
more.

Country will take a financial hit because of "Narnia's" move. First
pic ponied up $134 million, while "Prince Caspian" shelled out $52
million there, government officials have said.

Despite disappointment with the B.O. performance of "Prince Caspian,"
Disney and Walden are not attributing the move to Mexico to that
film's haul.

Pic has earned $138 million domestically and another $138 million
overseas so far, giving it a cume of $276 million. "The Lion, Witch
and the Wardrobe" earned $745 million worldwide.

Superman Reboot Set for 2011

(ComingSoon.net)               Back in October of 2007, Mark Millar
(Wanted) said he was going to pitch Warner Bros. Pictures his vision
of the "Superman" franchise. Now, just a few days ago, he told the
Daily Record he is taking it a step further:

But Mark's big dream is making a Superman movie.

He said: "Since I was a kid I've always wanted to reinvent Superman
for the 21st century.

"I've been planning this my entire life. I've got my director and
producer set up, and it'll be 2011. This is how far ahead you have to
think.

"The Superman brand is toxic after that last movie lost $200 million,
but in 2011 we're hoping to restart it.

"Sadly I can't say who the director is, but we may make it official by
Christmas.

"But fingers crossed it could work out, that would be my lifetime's dream."

Millar later clarified on his message boards:

That Superman news is interesting, isn't it? In the interests of
clarity (because I'm sure this will be picked up somewhere) a very
well known American action director heard about my love of Superman,
approached my and asked me to team up with he and his producer to make
a pitch for this. We've been talking for several weeks now and, if
this is going to happen, we'll know by Christmas. He has huge pull at
WB so fingers crossed. But this is nothing more than a huge US name
pulling me into his fold and making me part of a package."

Back in March, Bryan Singer said he was still developing the sequel
and in April, Legendary Pictures' Thomas Tull described a sequel in
which we'd see "Superman as more of an angry god." We'll have to wait
and see how this all turns out.

Animated Feature Film on the Way for "Clockwork Girl" Graphic Novel

(news.toonzone.net)                           Arcana Studios has announced that they have received funding from Telefilm Canada to produce an animated feature film based on their graphic novel Clockwork Girl. The graphic novel was created by Sean O'Reilly and Kevin Hanna, and tells the story of a nameless robot girl who befriends a mutant boy, and must navigate between their warring families.

Hancock Looks For $100M Open

(animationmagazine.net)             Casting the world's box-office
champ as a reluctant superhero should pay off big for Sony Pictures as
the Will Smith action-comedy Hancock opens in theaters today. The
Tuesday night screenings of the film (which started at 7 p.m.) brought
in a very impressive $6.8 million, and Sony is projecting $100 million
to $115 million for the 5 1/2 day July 4th weekend opening.

World War I Mortar Shell Found in San Francisco Presidio

(mercurynews.com)                   A San Francisco police bomb squad determined that a suspicious device found in the city's Presidio this morning was a World War I mortar shell, Sgt. Wilfred Williams said.

At about 10:20 a.m., a person walking a dog reported seeing the device in the Presidio area at Inspiration Point off of Arguello Boulevard.

U.S. Park Police responded, deemed the device it to be suspicious and notified San Francisco police.

According to Williams, authorities cleared out the surrounding area as they investigated the device. The bomb squad determined the device was a World War I mortar shell and it was rendered safe at about 2:45 p.m.