Worth a mention - 12/19/08

Lord Of The Rings' Prequel 'The Hobbit' Postponed Until 2012

(economictimes.indiatimes.com)

'Lord Of The Rings' prequel 'The Hobbit' has been postponed until 2012.

It was announced that the new film, which is based on JRR Tolkien's novel, would be directed by Guillermo Del Toro.

Oscar winner Peter Jackson is producing the project, and is also penning the screenplay with Del Toro, reports Contactmusic.

Sir Ian McKellen will be reprising his role of Gandalf , and Andy Serkis is expected to play Gollum once again.

The Shooting of 'The Hobbit', which was planned to begin in New Zealand this winter, has been postponed until 2010 - with the release day pushed back to 2012.

However the cause for the delay is unknown.





'Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows' Gets Start Date For 54 Week Shoot

(aceshowbiz.com) In a recent interview, producer David Heyman reveals when the production will begin for 'Deathly Hallows', the seventh installment of the J.K. Rowling's novel series, 'Harry Potter'.

"Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" will kick off its production in spring of 2009. While at the L.A. premiere of "Yes Man", "Harry Potter" producer David Heyman lets it slip that the work on the follow-up to "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" is about to begin as they have planned to start shooting in February.

On the occasion, Heyman also gave out on how long it will take to shoot the two-part project. "We finished the sixth film which'll be coming out next summer," the producer of "I Am Legend" explained, "and we start filming the seventh which we'll be breaking into two parts for a 54 week shoot starting in February."

Other than the "Deathly Hallows" shooting schedule, Heyman talks about how the film's three stars Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint and Emma Watson, haven't been allowed to be divas during the filming of any "Harry Potter" movie. "On the Harry Potter set we have a lot of crew from the first film," he said. "You can't get away with anything there, you get joshed and played with. You can't have any airs or graces."

"Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" has been set to be separated into two movies, "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part I" and "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part II". The first part will be released in U.S. and U.K. theaters on November 19, 2010, while the second part is set for May 2011 release. In the meantime, the sixth film, "Half-Blood Prince", will make its debut simultaneously in U.K. and U.S. on July 17, 2009.




Frank Miller Helming Buck Rogers

(The Hollywood Reporter) Frank Miller and Odd Lot Entertainment, the creator and production company behind upcoming The Spirit are close to teaming again on the classic sci-fi property Buck Rogers.

Odd Lot is in negotiations to option the rights to "Rogers" from Nu Image/Millennium, which obtained those rights this year from the Dille Trust. Millennium is expected to get a credit on the movie but won't be involved in day-to-day production.

Miller will write and direct his own big-screen take on the comic serial; while the creator has only begun to sketch ideas, it's expected to be a darker take, with many of Miller's signature visual elements and themes, such as corruption and redemption.

It's likely to be a priority project for Miller, though he has been mulling a Sin City sequel.

One of the first pop-culture vehicles to tackle the issue of space exploration, the story of Buck Rogers began life as a comic serial in the late 1920's and early '30's and has seen numerous film and television versions over the years.





Rude Awakening for Spielberg as DreamWorks Runs Short of Cash

(independent.co.uk) He is impossibly rich, uniquely powerful and boasts a copper-bottomed CV that includes dozens of the most influential blockbusters of modern times. But even Steven Spielberg's career is stalling in the apocalyptic face of the global credit crunch.

The legendary movie mogul, who recently "divorced" Paramount Pictures to turn his production firm, DreamWorks, into an independent company, finds himself in the unfamiliar position of struggling to raise enough money to get the ambitious new project off the ground.

Ironically, given his unrivalled reputation for producing some of the most lucrative films ever made, such as Jaws, ET, and the Indiana Jones series, Spielberg seems unable to raise $750m of the $1.2bn needed to underwrite DreamWorks' slate of forthcoming movies. Without the cash, the firm will be unable to begin work on its proposed selection of films, which include a selection of the most eagerly awaited projects in Hollywood.

They include Peter Morgan's Hereafter, which Clint Eastwood is rumoured to be directing, a terrorist thriller called Motorcade, and the Jewish comedy Dinner for Schmucks, which was originally to star Sacha Baron Cohen but now features Steve Carrell.

Spielberg's problems date back to October, when an Indian company, Reliance Big Entertainment, agreed to put up $500m to take his company independent, provided he could raise an additional $750m in loans to finance a total of 17 proposed films over the next seven years.

However, the collapse of AIG, which was due to provide a portion of the cash, and the tightening of credit markets left Spielberg unable to secure the cash and his bankers, JP Morgan, have delayed efforts to raise more money until the new year.

The Hollywood newspaper Variety carried a front-page report that the company's cashflow problems had left an important distribution deal with Universal Pictures "in jeopardy".

Its report noted that Spielberg's firm is being forced to "limp along" on $75m in bridge financing and must find another $20m by mid-January to compensate Paramount Pictures for its departure, announced in August and formalised two months later.

The article asked: "If they had to do it all over again, would DreamWorks co-founder Steven Spielberg and his partner Stacey Snider have left their lucrative deal at Paramount Pictures, where their slate of films had thrived?"

Although it seems unlikely that DreamWorks will collapse, Spielberg is expected to dramatically scale back his plans for the studio. Only one major project is currently under way, a $130m 3D version of Tintin. Unless the market improves, pundits say he will be forced to produce fewer, smaller movies. The problems come after a turbulent year for Spielberg, whose long-standing business partner David Geffen parted company from DreamWorks at the end of October. Mr Geffen, one of the film industry's best deal-makers, had engineered the company's separation from Paramount Pictures.

Mr Spielberg's Wunderkinder charitable foundation also lost an undisclosed sum after investing a "significant portion" of its assets in the collapsed $50bn fund run by the disgraced Wall Street financier Bernard Madoff.

VFX Make-up Master Visits Special Effects School

(pittsburghlive.com) A big name in the movie industry visited the Douglas Education Center this week.

During a four-day visit, special effects and make-up master Greg Nicotero provided valuable advice to students in Tom Savini's Special Make-Up Effects Program.

Nicotero made the cross-country trip from California to give a two-hour presentation and help students develop their portfolios.

Student Jacob Johnson waited anxiously in a hallway for his turn as Nicotero spoke to another student.

The Mississippian came to Monessen to attend a 16-month course with hopes of one day fabricating fantasy characters for film.

"It's really valuable because you get to see what you're competition is and see the quality of work that's being produced and what you're expectations are," Johnson said, referring to an earlier meeting at the school with Jordu Schell, a prominent television and film character sculptor.

Full Press: http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/valleyindependent/backstage/s_603534.html

Chow Will No Longer Direct Green Hornet

(Variety) Stephen Chow has dropped out as director of The Green Hornet but will still play Kato in Columbia Pictures' comic book adaptation, reports Variety.

The studio and producer Neal Moritz are in the process of setting a new director to keep the picture on track to begin production by spring.

Chow, who directed and starred in Kung Fu Hustle and Shaolin Soccer, signed in September to direct the film and play the role originated in the TV series by Bruce Lee. He stepped out as director over creative differences.

The film was written by Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg, and Rogen is starring as the masked crime fighter.





France Offers 20% VFX & Animation Discount

Hailed as a historic decision, the French parliament has greenlit 20% tax rebates for U.S. and other foreign shoots in France.

Applied to overseas shoots, expenditures in Gaul, the rebates will be capped at e4 million ($5.7 million) per film. They will cover labor costs, accommodation, transport and the use of local animation and VFX houses.

Full Press: http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117997593.html?categoryId=19&cs=1





Rickman A Live Action, Animation, and Stop Motion "Construct" In Wonderland

(darkhorizons.com) Alan Rickman tells Movies Online that Tim Burton's adaptation of "Alice in Wonderland" will be unlike any film you've seen before - a hybrid that fuses live-action footage, performance-capture computer animation ("Polar Express") and stop-motion animation ("Corpse Bride").

"The movie is a mixture of live action, animation, and stop motion, so it's very complicated and I don't think all three have been put together ever before. So I'll be with a live action Alice. I will be a construct."

Rickman, who plays the hookah-smoking Caterpillar in the film, added to Buzzine that he's "only done the first stage of it, which is them recording me saying these lines quite badly. Then, somewhere down the line, they'll have animated it and I'll redo it."





"Tron" Sequel Shot In 3D

(darkhorizons.com) AICN reports that the "Tron" sequel, "TR2N", looks like it will be shot entirely in 3D.

What makes this shoot different though is the end technology will be involved in the production process. Here's the scooper's explanation:

"With new technology, they can actually wear the glasses at the monitors as they shoot & it will show them exactly how the 3-D will look so that they can get exactly what they are looking for.

Specifically, we are going to get a first person view from inside of a light cycle in the film. That should be a lot of fun."

The studio has not confirmed the news at present.

Pre-WWII Hangars Now Home To ImageMovers Digital

(pressdemocrat.com) Built literally rock-solid – instead of as temporary metal Quonset huts that typified other bygone era airfield installations – the thick, concrete-walled hangars at the old site of the Hamilton Air Force Base were ideal candidates for renovation.

A cluster of pre-WWII hangars (Nos. 3 through 10), originally built in 1938 on 22 acres, has been completely remodeled and pressed back into service. This project comprises 461,000 square feet of two-story Class A commercial office space owned by the Barker Pacific Group and Prudential Real Estate Investors.

The latest addition to the Hamilton Landing complex is ImageMovers Digital, which joined forces with Walt Disney Studios in July of 2007 and is currently developing an animated version of "A Christmas Carol" for distribution in December 2009.

IMD is the largest tenant and is scheduled to occupy its two hangars this month. The IMD lease was one of the largest leases in Marin County in 2008. From the beginning, the developer saw the complex as a place it could deploy energy-saving and other features that would appeal to firms such as IMD.

"We seized the chance to recycle and embellish these very sound and sturdy buildings turning them into a classic reclamation model compatible with the creative space preferences of firms" like IMD, said Michael Barker, president of the Barker Pacific Group.

In 1998, the development group closed on the acquisition of seven hangars that were abandoned in 1974.

"We saw an opportunity to upgrade these historic structures by converting them into a modern commercial campus environment with a legacy unlike any in the country," Mr. Barker said.

"With open, tall ceilings there was ample space to maximize natural light access and also room to add a mezzanine deck. Ceiling heights range from a minimum of 11 feet to a maximum of 38 feet, providing a dramatic volume of space within an industrial open- truss design. Both ends of each hangar had massive doors that were replaced with equally large glass curtain walls."

Smith & Hawken was the first tenant to occupy the campus, leasing the entire first floor of hangar three.

Birkenstock USA, along with Visual Concepts/2K Games, Oracle USA, ClairMail and Sony Pictures Imageworks have also joined a growing list of almost 40 Hamilton Landing commercial tenants.

Architects and designers started with a clean slate by gutting these hangars to the bare bones to reveal their basic strengths and then refurbished them with state-of-the-art upgrades.

This project has already received a number of awards for energy efficiency, such as the 2003 Energy Efficient Building Award for best office project by Energy News Magazine.

This award recognizes innovations in building management and energy efficiency – in either retrofits or new construction throughout North America – that provide unique building solutions and also achieve significant energy and cost savings.

Hamilton Landing has also won the Marin Economic Commission's 2002 award for Smart Growth.

Outside the hangars, the extensive runways and taxi ramps became parking areas and a central promenade that extends through a campus that also includes a cafe with an al fresco dining area, a public library, a dry cleaner and a YMCA.

Each hangar has four internal columns, or towers, that proved to be convenient and viable locations for housing HVAC systems. Hangar roofs are corrugated steel trusses supported by vertical concrete walls 28 to 30 feet in height. Roof contours were designed in a traditional hangar oval shape and covered by corrugated steel. Interiors utilize up-lighting techniques where ambient light is bounced off the ceiling. As an historic legacy touch, exterior awnings were designed to resemble airplane wings.

While the Coast Guard has retained hangars one and two, still in their original state, the Barker Pacific Group plans to begin construction next year on a new, 55,000 square- foot office building in the center of the complex that will be surrounded by the existing hangars. This new structure will be different but with a complementary design.

"What impresses visitors and tenants the most about this office campus are the amazing views of San Pablo Bay wetlands and the Marin Headlands from the second floor. The Hamilton Landing commercial business park is a perfect blend of old and new and a splendid example of how even large structures can be recycled. Over the years the Barker Pacific Group has restored a number of historical buildings. Each one is unique. We honor and work with what is there and adapt it to meet present-day needs," said Mr. Barker.

Worth a mention - 12/18/08

Sonnenfeld To Save The World

(Variety.com)

Barry Sonnenfeld will direct and produce the SF action comedy The How-To Guide for Saving the World from BenDavid Grabinski's script.

The title refers to an instruction manual for saving the world, which is left behind by a secret group that protects the Earth from alien invaders after the group is wiped out.

"Unfortunately, a non-action-hero guy not unlike me, in terms of manliness, and a woman who hates him find the book and have to save the planet from an impending attack," Sonnenfeld told the trade paper.




Laika Animation Lays Off 65

(news.awn.com) Portland-based animation studio Laika has laid off 65 people and shelved its second CG film JACK AND BEN'S ANIMATED ADVENTURE, according to THE OREGONIAN.

Laika is owned by Nike founder Phil Knight, and is releasing their first film, 3-D stop-motion feature CORALINE on February 6.

JACK AND BEN was slated to come out after CORALINE, but the film's writer, former Pixar animator Jorgen Klubien left the studio over "creative differences" last year. Laika hired MULAN director Barry Cook to direct JACK AND BEN, and was moving forward with the project.

A studio spokeswoman told THE OREGONIAN that Laika has decided to shelve the film and push ahead on other projects, and expects to have a series of announcements to that effect after the first of the year.

The company will be left with 280 employees, and their advertising division will not be affected. Knight bought financially-strapped Will Vinton Studios in 2003 and renamed it in 2005. His son, Travis, worked as an animator before the change, and is now an executive there.

Directed by Henry Selick (THE NIGHTMARE BEFORE CHRISTMAS) and based on Neil Gaiman's novella, CORALINE opens Feb. 6, 2009 from Focus Features. It's a Grimm-inspired fairy tale about a melancholy young girl who discovers a hidden passageway in an old house to an opposite world with voice work from Dakota Fanning and Teri Hatcher.

In June, Laika announced their long-term slate, which included JACK AND BEN, and two other projects: HERE BE MONSTERS! And PARANORMAN.




Arnold Mum About Terminator Cameo

(moviehole.net) The rumour mill suggests Arnold Schwarzenegger may make some kind of appearance (as the T-800) in ''Terminator Salvation'', with the most reported rumour that ILM has been working on synthesizing a human character (in this case, Arnold) with a CGI character.

TheArnoldFans.com had a chance to speak to the man himself about the rumours - and though he didn't confirm the rumours, he hinted that something might be happening.

"Governor Arnold, perhaps under restraints by McG and the film studio, answers only with the body language and a smile of "You never know." Should we take that as a yes? The tease was promising but it's too soon to get an official answer", says the site.

Sounds like we'll have to wait until the film's actually out to get an official confirmation on that one.





Shankman Helms Sinbad

(Variety.com) Adam Shankman has signed on to helm Sinbad at Sony.

Shankman is in final negotiations to direct and develop a take on classic epic adventure Sinbad. The long-gestating project has attracted a number of helmers over the years, including John Singleton and Rob Cohen.

The story centers on Sinbad and his crew, who are marooned off the coast of China and embark on a quest to find the lamp of Aladdin.




Midway Games Closes Austin Studio

(eurogamer.net) Midway Games has announced plans to axe 25 per cent of staff, cancel some of the projects it currently has in development and close its Austin studio.

That'll mean redundancies from Midway's offices in San Diego, Austin and Chicago. Around 180 staff will go from product development, QA, marketing, PR, accounts, sales, submissions and IT. The projects being thrown in the bin were all due for release in 2010 and 2011, and had not been made public.

Midway Austin was known as Inevitable Entertainment before it was acquired in 2004. The studio worked on titles such as Tribes: Aerial Assault, The Hobbit and Area 51.

"The cost-reduction measures are vital for us to rationalise our operations and provide the resources necessary for our core properties to succeed," said bossman Matt Booty. He blamed "current economic conditions" for the "challenges" being faced by Midway at present.

Midway is in danger of defaulting on its debts of USD 240 million, and could be delisted from the stock exchange.





Creature Suit Actor Ready For The Hobbit

(ifmagazine.com) You might know Doug Jones' name, but you probably don't exactly know his face. That's because his most significant roles have featured him buried under pounds of latex and make-up -- and yet each character is so unique and different, often times he's playing multiple roles in the same film.

Not surprising, director Guillermo del Toro loves working with him (he's had memorable supporting roles in PAN\u2019S LABYRINTH and HELLBOY I & II) and is also known as The Silver Surfer in the second FANTASTIC FOUR movie. Suffice to say, Jones has now become the go-to performer when it comes to fantastical creatures and other-wordly beings.

Jones spoke with iF for this exclusive interview during his promotional tour of HELLBOY II: THE GOLDEN ARMY to talk about that film and also hint at what's on the horizon with HELLBOY III, THE HOBBIT and the SILVER SURFER spin-off.

iF: Has Guillermo discussed what he has plans for you in THE HOBBIT?

JONES: He hasn't discussed what it is for me for THE HOBBIT, and he's said in front of me, to someone in the press, when asked this very question, "I have nothing official to report yet, but let me say this, if I direct a hemorrhoid commercial, Doug Jones will be in it." That's the answer we can all rest on. If he's making a big epic film with lots of creatures in it, I'm fairly confident he'll have something for me.

Full Press: http://www.ifmagazine.com/feature.asp?article=3171





"Bashir" Director Eyes Sci-fi Adaptation

(Hollywood Reporter) - The director of the Israeli war cartoon "Waltz With Bashir" is developing a sci-fi project.

Ari Folman has acquired rights to "The Futurological Congress," a short story from science fiction writer Stanislaw Lem, and intends to write the screenplay and shoot the movie as a live-action/animated hybrid.

"Congress" is set in a futuristic world in which everything appears to glisten -- there is an abundance of money and good feeling -- but which turns out to have a dark, drug-infused underbelly.

Folman plans on beginning the movie with live-action, then add his signature dreamlike animation. "Think of your favorite young actress. She'll appear that way at the beginning, and then as the film goes on, she'll be drawn like she's 50," the Israeli helmer said.

Lem, who died in 2006, was a prolific writer who penned dozens of stories and novels, often with philosophical undertones. He has been compared to Philip K. Dick, with "Congress" compared to "Blade Runner" source material "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?" Lem's Hollywood currency comes from the novel "Solaris," the basis for films by Andrei Tarkovsky and Steven Soderbergh.

"Bashir" was nominated for a Golden Globe and is considered a front-runner for the foreign-language Oscar. The animated documentary generated buzz at Cannes before being picked up by Sony Pictures Classics; it tells the first-person story of Folman trying to recover memories from his time serving in the 1982 Israel-Lebanon war.

Orphanage FX Shop Co-founder Tries "Priest"hood

(hollywoodreporter.com) Scott Charles Stewart has signed to direct "Priest," a horror Western that Michael De Luca and Stars Road Entertainment's Josh Donen are producing for Screen Gems. Mitchell Peck will also produce.

An adaptation of a TokyoPop comic book, the story is set in a world ravaged by centuries of war between man and vampire and follows a warrior priest who turns against the church to track down a murderous band of vampires who have kidnapped his niece. Cory Goodman ("The Brood") wrote the screenplay.

The boarding of Stewart blesses "Priest" with new life; the project almost came together a couple of years ago with Gerard Butler and Steven Strait under the direction of Andrew Douglas but fell apart.

Stewart, repped by Endeavor and Anonymous Content, is a former ILM staffer who, along with Stu Maschwitz and Jonathan Rothbart, co-founded special effects house the Orphanage. "Priest" sees him back under Screen Gems' wings, as he is making his directorial debut with the company's apocalyptic thriller "Legion." Stewart also wrote the film.

How 30 Years of Star Wars Technology Changed Lives Forever

(networkworld.com) If you saw the first Star Wars film in 1978 you would have been dazzled by the awe inspiring technology the protagonists took for granted. Thirty years later and many of the film's forward-looking ideas -- from videoconferencing and mobile communications to robotics and bionics -- are being used in our daily lives.

During the next four months Sydney's Powerhouse Museum is playing host to one of the largest collection of Star Wars memorabilia combined with real-life examples of how such technology is being applied for business and social advancement.
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Star Wars: The Force Unleashed

The museum's computing and mathematics curator Matthew Connell helped develop the exhibition and, while not a self-confessed Star Wars aficionado, is very interested in comparing the science fiction to today's science fact.

Star Wars: Where Science Meets Imagination, took a year to set up in Australia and this is the first time it has travelled outside of the US. It was originally developed four years ago at the Museum of Science in Boston in conjunction with Lucasfilm.

"Unlike some of our staff and curators, I don't have a Storm Trooper outfit," Connell said. "We had another Star Wars exhibition here some time ago and that was about the making of the film and that sort of thing. This is particularly different from that and while it has some artifacts in common, it is specifically about our shared understanding of this well-known movie and how this futuristic world can be used to stimulate thought about our future and how we might go and how science might get us there."

The exhibition covers a number of core themes from the Star Wars universe and compares the technology to what humans have engineered or a attempting to develop.

"For me, science fiction presents a vast array of questions," Connell said. "I probably spoil it for some people, but I can't help but look at this stuff and say 'why are they screaming in space?'. I always love seeing how things are represented in these movies because I like to point my physics brain at it and say 'hang on, is that right?'."

Transport

The exhibition starts with the juxtaposition of the Millennium Falcon, which can travel between galaxies effortlessly, and our own forms of space travel.

"We are not quite there yet," Connell said. "We can send things out, but people have been thinking about interstellar travel for a long time."

Full Press: http://www.networkworld.com/news/2008/121708-how-30-years-of-star.html

Worth a mention - 12/17/08

Gore Verbinski Plans Online Fantasy Role-Playing Film

(Variety) Universal and "Pirates of the Caribbean" director Gore Verbinski have acquired a 2007 Wall Street Journal article they will use as the basis for a film about the online fantasy role-playing world and its detrimental impact on the real lives of players.

Variety says Verbinski will develop the film as a directing vehicle; Steven Knight (Eastern Promises) will pen the script.

The article by Alexandra Alter focuses on a married man who spends as many as 20 hours a day on a computer, existing through an avatar who is a thriving, musclebound entrepreneur. In reality, he is a diabetic, chain-smoking 53-year-old.

Verbinski will produce with Alain Chabat, Stephanie Danan and Sarah Shepard of WAM Films.



VFX Studio To Save "Twilight" Actor's Role?

(msnbc.msn.com) Director Chris Weitz may have inherited one of Hollywood's hottest properties, when he took over the "Twilight" franchise from director Catherine Hardwicke, but he's also been given a casting problem that has many "Twilight" fans howling.

When Summit Entertainment announced Weitz's new role as director, the press release also had a suspicious omission — Taylor Lautner, who played Jacob Black in the first film, was left out.

Many fans first thought this could have been a mistake by Summit Entertainment, but the company was quick to announce that casting for the character, who plays a major role in the second film as a werewolf, has not been decided.

"The casting decision in regards to the character Jacob Black has yet to be made," a rep for Summit told MTV News.

As for who would replace Lautner, MTV reported that Michael Copon, from "Scorpion King 2," is one of several actors being considered by Weitz.

Copon's rep told MTV they are working hard to get Copon the role of Jacob.

The "Scorpion King 2" actor is even conducting his own guerilla marketing campaign on Facebook, with status updates that read, "Michael Copon (is) in a Twilight Zone!" and "Michael Copon is the older Jacob Black!"

Copon's rep confirmed to MTV News that the Facebook page is run by the actor and that he made the status updates.

But, Lautner fans still have a glimmer of hope when it comes to keeping the 16-year-old actor in "New Moon," thanks to the visual effects company that turned Brad Pitt into an elderly baby in his upcoming movie.

According to Entertainment Weekly, Lautner's agent has reached out to one of the visual effects company that worked on Pitt's "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button," in order to show Weitz and Summit how visual effects could create a digitally bulked-up Lautner, suggesting the possible casting change was based on Lautner's physique.

Narnia 3 Says "Nah" to Mexico

A surge of Hollywood interest in Australia as a filming location could lead to another coup: the next Chronicles Of Narnia film.

Following The Lion, The Witch And The Wardobe and Prince Caspian, filming for The Voyage Of The Dawn Treader was to begin in Mexico next month, much of it at the Baja Studios water tank that was used for Titanic and Master And Commander.

But difficult conditions, including a rise in violence associated with a drug war, are believed to have led Disney and Walden Media to hunt for a new location to shoot the reputed $US100 million ($150 million) movie.

SiT hears that film industry officials in NSW and Queensland are chasing the movie and the Sunshine State is favoured to win because of the water tank at Warner Roadshow Studios on the Gold Coast. The Dawn Treader needs studios, beaches, jungles and other locations for a five-month shoot.

In the C.S. Lewis fantasy novel, Edmund, Lucy and their cousin Eustace return to the magical land of Narnia through a painting then set sail with King Caspian to find seven lost lords.

Briton Michael Apted, who made Amazing Grace, The World Is Not Enough and the Seven Up documentary series, is directing with returning roles for young Skandar Keynes and Georgie Henley. Also back will be Ben Barnes, who was Prince Caspian in the last instalment.

The producers are known to have investigated Australia as a location before they settled on Mexico.

Horror Western To Be Ravaged by Centuries of War Between Man & Vampire

(The Hollywood Reporter)

Scott Charles Stewart has signed to direct Priest, a horror Western that Michael De Luca and Stars Road Entertainment's Josh Donen are producing for Screen Gems. Mitchell Peck will also produce.

An adaptation of a TokyoPop comic book, the story is set in a world ravaged by centuries of war between man and vampire and follows a warrior priest who turns against the church to track down a murderous band of vampires who have kidnapped his niece.

Cory Goodman (The Brood) wrote the screenplay.

The project almost came together a couple of years ago with Gerard Butler and Steven Strait under the direction of Andrew Douglas but fell apart.

Priest sees Stewart back under Screen Gems' wings, as he is making his directorial debut with the company's biblical apocalyptic thriller Legion. Stewart also wrote the film.




'Delgo' Becomes The Biggest Animated CGI Flop of All Time

(cinematical.com - datelinehollywood.com) There's a story making the rounds making the case that this past weekend's minor computer-animated effort Delgo is, to paraphrase, the biggest wide-release bomb of all time.

Is that right? As usual, it depends on how you look at it. If you limit your scope to films released in over 2000 theaters -- Delgo occupied 2,160 -- then the raw numbers back up this claim: Delgo's $237 weekend per-screen average and $511,920 gross easily top the chart of all-time worst openings in that category.

Delgo may be the biggest wide-release flop of all time, but no one will remember its failure like they remember Cutthroat Island and Last Action Hero: not because Delgo was low-budget (it reportedly cost $40 million), but because it was, for all intents and purposes, set up to fail.

"How could a film bomb with a cast like that?" asks Box Office Weekly editor David Heisler. "I mean, Christ Kattan was in it. I hear a few studios are now going to extremes by trying to add quality storylines to the animation and celebrity voice cast. The situation is that desperate right now."



"Transformers 2" Trailer: Not Until February

(screenrant.com) Michael Bay Transformers 2It looks like we may finally have some clue as to when the first trailer will hit for one of the most anticipated films of 2009: Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen. It's looking like at the earliest, we won't be seeing a trailer until February 1, 2009.




Disney Considers "Twilight" Star For "Pirates of the Caribbean 4"

(x17online.com) Disney is considering Twilight star Robert Pattinson for a role in the fourth Pirates of the Caribbean film.

No other deets are being provided and so far nobody is saying anything official.



Are Superhero VFX Tentpoles Ready To Win 'Best Picture' Oscars?

(io9.com) People like superhero movies because they're escapist entertainment, right? Not according to author Neal Gabler, who says that the power of The Dark Knight and Iron Man is that they're all about our deepest fears.

Writing for Variety's Oscar blog, Gabler argues that both movies have deeper intellectual underpinnings than you may expect, making both potential Academy Award-fodder:

"The Dark Knight" functions like a shell game. It sets up an idea and encourages viewers to accept it, only to then pick up the shell and reveal that the audience has been bamboozled... In the end, it isn't order or anomie, but human goodness that prevails. Batman's only purpose is to guard against the aberrations. [In contrast,] the symbolism of the "Iron Man" is unmistakable. Power must be tempered by humanity, in this case literally placing the man inside the weapon. More, the weapon is almost literally powered by Stark's heart, which is attached to a tiny atomic reactor. It is the human dimensions of Stark, even his fallibility, that make him heroic.

No one would claim that this is an earthshaking epiphany. Still, it raises the film above the typical cathartic muscle-flexing, and it adds an ironic edge to the genre. Whether that will be enough to get it Oscar attention remains to be seen, but "Iron Man," like "The Dark Knight," is at least on the voters' radar, which is no small achievement. Ideas can do that for you, even when they are packaged in a comicbook extravaganza.

As someone who thought that Dark Knight was too weighed down with its need to make a grand statement, I'm unsurprised to see it being mentioned here, but Iron Man's appearance is a welcome surprise (even if I'd be very surprised to see it get nominated for anything other than visual effects and potentially a nod for Robert Downey Jr.); has Dark Knight flipped critics' wigs so much that they're re-evaluating popcorn movies for hidden meaning?



12 New Coraline Preview Images

(latinoreview.com) From Henry Selick, visionary director of THE NIGHTMARE BEFORE CHRISTMAS, and based on Neil Gaiman's international best-selling book, comes a spectacular stop-motion animated adventure, the first to be originally filmed in 3D!

Take a look: http://latinoreview.com/film-preview-images/18065?id=18062




Hobbit Director Fears Kidnapping

(actressarchives.com) With a kidnapping rate second only to Columbia, and with over 15,000 murders reported annually (key word "reported") in its capital city alone, it's no wonder director Guillermo Del Toro says it's "unlikely" he will ever make another film in Mexico.

The 44 year-old auteur, whose last film, "Hellboy 2: The Golden Army" grossed over $150 million, says that between his recent commercial success and the fact his father was kidnapped 10 years ago, he no longer feels safe filming on the streets of his native country.

Del Toro told Mexican newspaper El Universal Thursday that while his father was eventually released by the kidnappers, his family received subsequent death threats, noting, "Not all of the people who participated in the kidnapping were captured."

Describing it as a "forced exile," Del Toro pointed to the fact his daily routine would become public should he ever again film in Mexico, and that such publicity would only embolden criminals seeking a large ransom.

Del Toro now lives in New Zealand, where in 2010 he'll be directing "The Hobbit," a prequel to Peter Jackson's massively successful "Lord of the Rings" trilogy. He's currently shooting the drama "Biutiful" in Spain with Javier Bardem.

Reacting to Del Toro's kidnapping concerns, the Mexican government released statistics to the Associated Press Friday, revealing that the country's kidnap rate has fallen 18% in recent years, to a new low of around 72 per month.

See Guillermo? Only 72 (reported) kidnappings per month…what are you so worried about?

Worth a mention - 12/16/08

Transformers 3 in 2011

(denofgeek.com)

ls have very specific release dates doing the rounds. And it seems that a third Transformers film is a go\u2026

Just yesterday, we were reporting that the producers of Terminator: Salvation were wasting little time in getting another movie underway, with a fifth film already entering development. And it seems that Paramount is thinking along the same lines with its Transformers juggernaut. With the second film now into its extensive post-production work and due out next summer, it seems that a date for a third instalment is already potentially in place.

According to the latest update over at Dark Horizons, it reports that a German release schedule has the film in place for June 29th 2011. This will, once more, give Michael Bay and his team (assuming Bay returns for a third film) a two-year production cycle for the film.





Sony Animation Partners with Gotham

(variety.com) Sony Pictures Animation has inked a first-look production deal with Ellen Goldsmith-Vein's the Gotham Group.

Deal marks the first-ever first-look pact for SPA, a unit of Sony Pictures Digital Prods., which was overhauled in March with Hannah Minghella being named prexy of the division.

As the leading management firm for toon and kids content creators, Gotham Group offers a nice fit for SPA, which is looking to ramp up its efforts after a number of its projects have stalled in development. In recent years, Goldsmith-Vein has expanded Gotham into a full-fledged production company, having produced such films as "The Spiderwick Chronicles."

"Ellen Goldsmith-Vein has impeccable taste in material and phenomenal talent relationships," said Bob Osher, who took the reins of Sony Pictures Digital Prods. at the same time Minghella was upped to her post. "With her client base and Gotham's association with the top publishers, we are excited to team with Ellen and her team to find original stories, characters and talent."

Gotham represents some of the top animation directors and writers as well as a broad range of young-adult authors, publishing houses and comicbook companies including Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing, HarperCollins Children's Books (U.S. & U.K.), Houghton Mifflin/Harcourt and Dark Horse Entertainment.

Gotham is currently in production on "Dead Space," an animated feature for Starz! Media, and the 3-D CGI film "Quantum Quest," the first film ever initiated by NASA/JPL. The company also recently linked with the Chungnan Techno Park, Chungam province of South Korea and several South Korean corporations in a pubic-private partnership to form an animation fund totaling more than $300 million for the purpose of financing, producing and distributing six to eight animated and live-action/animated hybrid feature films.

Gotham has a slate of more than 30 films set up at studios across town including "Spanking Shakespeare" at Paramount with Shawn Levy directing; "The Devil You Know" for 20th Century Fox; and "Big Brave Brian" for CBS Films.

SPA's slate includes "Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs," which is currently in production, and a direct-to-video "Open Season" sequel.





George Lucas Confirms Fifth Indiana Jones Film

(showbizspy.com) George Lucas has confirmed Harrison Ford will reprise his role as Indiana Jones in a fifth film about the fictional adventurer - just as soon as moviemakers think of something worthy enough for the character to dig up.

The fourth film in the famous franchise, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, was released earlier this year.

And a sequel will be on its way soon enough.

Lucas reveals, "We're looking for a MacGuffin, which is an object that he goes after.

"They're very hard to come by!"

As to whether Indy will be joined by his on-screen wife and son from Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, Lucas adds: "It really depends on what it is Indy goes looking for and then how the story falls out of that, and then how convenient or inconvenient to have the group there."




Iron Man Meets AFI Awards

(eonline.com) The Hulk is gonna get green with envy. Well, greener.

Iron Man and The Dark Knight were both named Sunday to the American Film Institute's Movies of the Year Top 10 list.

For Iron Man, the kudos is its first major honor of awards season. For The Dark Knight, it's its umpteenth honor. For superhero movies—the passed-over Incredible Hulk excepted—it's another step in their march toward world domination.

Tron 2.0 Hires Virtual Cast

(The Hollywood Reporter) Olivia Wilde (Fox's "House," pictured left) and Beau Garrett (pictured down right), who appeared together in Turistas, are the first to sign on for Tron 2.0, the sequel to the 1982 Disney cult classic being directed by Joseph Kosinski.

Sean Bailey is producing along with Steven Lisberger, who co-wrote and directed the original film, and Jeff Silver.

The original, about a programmer thrust into a computer and forced to fight in games he helped create, is remembered for its sci-fi gladiator-style battles and groundbreaking special effects.

The new movie is acting as a "next chapter." Plot details are being guarded closely, but Wilde will play a worker in the virtual world who tries to help fight Master Control Program, the villainous intelligence protocol that was the nemesis in the original film.

Garrett will play a siren in the virtual world.

The male lead has not been cast, but the studio and filmmakers are screen-testing actors as it brings on other leads and supporting players.

Tron 2.0 is eyeing a spring shoot.





Rick Baker Gets Tesla Award: Recognition of Visionary Achievement in Filmmaking Technology

(scifi.com) Makeup master Rick Baker was honored by the International Press Academy over the weekend in Los Angeles, and TV's True Blood and the movies Ghost Town, The Dark Knight, Iron Man and WALL*E all took home trophies.

John Landis, who worked with Baker on An American Werewolf in London, presented Baker the Tesla Award for recognition of Visionary Achievement in Filmmaking Technology. Landis first hired Baker in 1971 for Schlock, and Baker's work in An American Werewolf in London won the makeup artist the first of six Academy Awards.

WALL*E won the award for best animated/mixed media film.

Ricky Gervais won best actor in a motion picture, comedy or musical, for Ghost Town, in which he played a dentist who can suddenly see spirits.

The award for best editing went to Dan Lebental from Iron Man. He told SCI FI Wire that he's already prepping for the sequel. "I'm going out right now to call [director] Jon Favreau, and he'll be pretty excited about it," Lebental said. "We're going to do a lot more incredible things with Iron Man 2. We're all pretty jazzed about it." Iron Man won also for best DVD extras.

Best sound editing and mixing went to Richard King for The Dark Knight. Best original song went to "Another Way to Die" from Quantum of Solace.

In the TV categories, best supporting actor went to Nelsan Ellis in True Blood. Anna Paquin won best TV actress in a drama.

In the DVD categories, Wargames, the 25th Anniversary Edition won best youth DVD.

The International Press Academy is made up of more than 150 domestic and foreign entertainment journalists who work for TV, radio, interactive, print and Internet outlets worldwide. This is their 13th awards show.




Universal Plays With Spring-loaded Miniature Figures that Transform Toy Monsters

(The Hollywood Reporter) Universal and Stuber Productions are hoping to capitalize on the latest toy craze among boys, entering into a deal with toy company Spin Master to bring "Bakugan Battle Brawlers" to the big screen.

"Bakugan" is a Japanese anime show airing on the Cartoon Network as well as a strategic game that uses metal cards and magnetic, spring-loaded miniature figures that transform from marblelike balls into toy monsters.

The show's storyline revolves around creatures called Bakugan and the young human battle brawlers who wield them. The creatures have such names as Pyrus Drago, Haos Tigrerra, Ventus Skyress, Subterra Gorem and Darkus Hydranoid that inform their character and power; they are involved in a battle in a parallel dimension called Vestroia that spills into ours.

"Bakugan" airs six days a week on Cartoon as one of its top shows.




Cheech and Chong Go Animated

(darkhorizons.com) Big Vision Entertainment and Chambers Bros. Entertainment are set to produce an animated film featuring classic stoner duo Cheech and Chong says The Hollywood Reporter.

Both companies acquired animated film rights to the classic Cheech and Chong library and will use those famous comedy bits to inspire "Cheech and Chong's Smokin' Animated Movie."

Lou Adler, who discovered the duo in the early 1970s, will executive produce. Eric and Branden Chambers will direct the animation and produce alongside Houston Curtis.

Cheech Marin and Tommy Chong, who're expected to voice their roles, are in the midst of their reunion stand-up tour 'Light Up America'.





The Story of Industrial Light & Magic

(livevideo.com) A video story of the world's greatest special effects house, Lucasfilm's Industrial Light & Magic, from it's beginnings on STAR WARS to now.

Take a look: http://www.livevideo.com/video/B3D74A9B3FD8432EABF2B77EB213D7B7/the-story-of-industrial-light-.aspx





If Batman can do it, why not The Phantom?

(The Associated Press.) Sydney-based production company Sherlock Symington Productions has secured rights to "The Phantom: Legacy", a new feature film involving the jungle-based masked hero who famously dressed in skin-tight purple.

The property was previously adapted by director Simon Wincer in 1996 and starred Billy Zane. This is NOT a sequel to that, rather a reboot of the franchise ala "Batman Begins" and "The Incredible Hulk".

The $87 million project, penned by Tim Boyle, will focus on "the Father/Son relationship, and what it means to be The Phantom," scriptwriter Tim Boyle said in a statement. "The film will be set in the present day and will deal with the concept of destiny."

Bruce Sherlock, who served as executive producer of the first "Phantom" movie, will return as producer on this.

Shooting will take place entirely in Australia with production set to begin within six to nine months. Several "top talent" Australian and American actors are in talks for roles in the project.





Baker Dishes On Wolfman Makeup

(scifi.com) Multiple Academy Award-winning makeup artist Rick Baker told SCI FI Wire he's not exactly sure why The Wolfman is delayed for more than half a year, but added that his work does pay homage to the original 1941 Universal Pictures Wolf Man, not Baker's other lycanthrope movie, An American Werewolf in London.

Baker--speaking in Century City, Calif., on Dec. 14, where he received the Tesla Award from the International Press Academy--said, "It was a troubled project from the start. The first director [Mark Romanek] left, and Joe [Johnston (Jumanji, Jurassic Park III)] took it over, but it looks real good. I saw how they set it in [19th]-century England, and it looks spectacular."

The film stars Benicio Del Toro as Lawrence Talbot, who inherits his family's curse: turning into a werewolf when the moon is full. Baker faced a challenge crafting the makeup that would transform Del Toro into a wolfman.

"I had a lot of trouble with that, because Benicio already looks like a werewolf, especially when he grows his facial hair out," Baker said. "I kept telling them that he wouldn't look too much different."

But Baker managed. He used prosthetics and rubber masks to create the wolf face. Unlike the lycanthropes in An American Werewolf, though, Del Toro's Talbot doesn't undergo a complete body transformation. "In [American Werewolf], I was turning the whole body of a man and transforming him into a wolf," Baker said. "This one is different, and harkens back to the classic Wolf Man [played by Lon Chaney Jr.] I'm not sure what they are going to do about the transformation; I heard they are going to do it in CG, and I think that is a mistake."

Computer-generated technology has affected some of Baker's work. Sometimes the mix of makeup and digital technology works well, he said. "In the case of The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, it was a meld of CG animation and makeup to turn Brad Pitt old, and many people say that it was the best combination of the two technologies that they've ever seen. I'm very proud of that."

The Wolfman, originally slated to open in the spring, instead will debut in November 2009.

Worth a mention - 12/15/08

F/X Oscar Long List Announced

(scifi.com) Variety columnist Anne Thompson reported that Speed Racer and Wanted have been shut out of competition for the visual-effects Oscar.

Citing V F/X expert David Cohen, Thompson reported that the 15 movies on the long list for three Oscar nominations are:

-Australia
-The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian
-Cloverfield
-The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
-The Dark Knight
-The Day the Earth Stood Still
-Hancock
-Hellboy II: The Golden Army
-The Incredible Hulk
-Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull
-Iron Man
-Journey to the Center of the Earth
-The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor
-Quantum of Solace
-The Spiderwick Chronicles.

In early January, the members of the Academy's Visual Effects Branch Executive Committee, who voted for the semifinalists, will narrow the list to seven. They will then be invited to view 15-minute excerpts from each of the seven short-listed films during the Bake Off on Jan. 15. Following the screenings, the members will vote to nominate three films for final Oscar consideration.

The 81st Academy Awards nominations will be announced on Thursday, Jan. 22 at 5:30 a.m. (PT) in the Academy's Samuel Goldwyn Theater. Academy Awards for outstanding film achievements of 2008 will be presented on Sunday, Feb. 22 at the Kodak Theatre at Hollywood & Highland Center. ABC will carry the live broadcast in the U.S.

Terminator Will be Back for a Fifth Film

(Variety.com) Halcyon Co. executives Derek Anderson and Victor Kubicek are developing a fifth installment of the "Terminator" franchise with Terminator Salvation director McG.

The trade says the news came out of the Dubai International Film Festival. McG was in Dubai for the announcement.

No decision has been made as to where to film the next "Terminator," although the Middle East was mentioned as a locale.

Christian Bale has signed on in the role of John Connor for all three films in the newly planned trilogy. The next installment, after Terminator Salvation, is tentatively scheduled for a 2011 release.

Anderson and Kubicek had originally planned to wait until the release of Terminator Salvation next summer before deciding on whether to proceed with the next chapter, but the positive studio, fan and media reaction to footage from the current film has encouraged them to move forward ahead of schedule.

"We feel the time is now to start shaping the next part of this," Kubicek said.





The Day the Earth Stood Still Takes First with $31M

(Box Office Mojo) The ComingSoon.net Box Office Report has been updated with studio estimates for the weekend. Click here for the full box office estimates of the top 12 films and then check back on Monday for the final figures based on actual box office.

20th Century Fox's remake of the 1951 classic The Day the Earth Stood Still opened in first place with an estimated $31 million from 3,560 theaters, an average of $8,708 per location. Directed by Scott Derrickson and starring Keanu Reeves and Jennifer Connelly, the sci-fi thriller also earned $39 million internationally from 7,700 screens in 90 markets over the weekend to bring its worldwide gross to $70 million. The film was produced for about $80 million.





Chris Weitz to Direct New Moon

(Summit Entertainment) Filmmaker Chris Weitz has been hired to direct the second film in the studio's "Twilight" film franchise. The film, New Moon, is based on the second book in author Stephenie Meyer's blockbuster book series. The announcement was made by Erik Feig, Summit's President of Production.

Weitz, an Academy Award®-nominated writer, director and producer, has a proven track record working with a broad range of material dealing with youth-oriented characters, fantasy and action. As such, he has the potential to bring alive in New Moon the dimensions and depth that fans will demand in the next installment.





Sci-fi Thriller POD To Be Intergalactic Tale of Discovery, Love & Adventure

(The Hollywood Reporter) Now in post on their first feature together, Gold Circle Films and Spanish filmmaker Luis A. Berdejo are reteaming for POD, a sci-fi thriller that Berdejo will write and direct, says The Hollywood Reporter.

The film is described as an intergalactic tale of discovery, love and adventure and epic in scope.

POD is an original idea and will be Berdejo's first English-language gig. He wrote the Spanish-language hit Rec, which recently was remade by Screen Gems. The plan is for Berdejo to shoot POD after he directs his passion project, the Spanish-language Jennifer Can, the first screenplay he wrote.

Gold Circle topper Paul Brooks will produce POD with Scott Niemeyer and Norm Waitt executive producing.

Berdejo and Gold Circle are in post on The New Daughter, a thriller starring Kevin Costner.





Star Trek to Up The Ante on Ships, Battles, & Planets

(mtv.com)

MTV: When you look at the other "Star Trek" films, what are they missing that you wanted to bring to yours?

Abrams: There are a number of things that I think are unique to this movie. There's a level of relevance that I think is really because of the actors playing the part. I didn't want to just re-create or reset everything, I thought going back to those characters was important. [In previous films] when we met those characters, we met them pre-established. They'd already been working together, they already knew each other. They had this history. And for some reason, the origin of those relationships of those characters was something that probably would have helped me, at least, connect to them and understand why I should care about them and who they were.

So on those fundamental levels, none of the movies have had that before. But on a much more practical level, "Star Trek" has never had the opportunity, nor the resources, to be realized in this way. Things like the ships and the battles and the planets and the chases and the action sequences ... and do them in a way that felt thrilling and terrifying and entertaining in a way that the show and the prior movies simply couldn't afford to do. I feel we were able to bring to life, in a way we've never seen before, what it is to be a member of Starfleet. And that's kind of cool.

How Weta Got a Great Gort, and Other VFX Challenges

(studiodaily.com) "When I was eight years old, a man who lived at the corner of my street had played Bozo the Clown, and in his garage he had one of the original Gorts from the 1951 movie," Okun says, speaking of a fiberglass statue used for close-ups of the robot firing its laser beam. "In the film, Gort had a visor that shot a laser beam and disintegrated everything. And every once in a while, in the garage, the visor would come open."

So creating the right look and feel for a scary alien robot in the remake was especially important to Okun. It took five tries.

Character designer Aaron Sims of the Aaron Sims Company began the process, working with director Scott Derrickson (The Exorcism of Emily Rose). Sims also created designs for the alien sphere and for a biosuit that envelops the alien Klaatu until he emerges as Keanu Reeves. Weta Digital created Gort, the sphere and the alien suit. (Cinesite created the early look for the 3D alien suit and environments.)

"At first, we ignored the original movie completely and designed Gort as a non-humanoid," Sims says. "We went through many stages." Gort was always imagined for this film as a completely CG character, and that first Gort was a four-legged creature.

"It didn't move or look like anything anyone had ever seen," Okun says. "We asked Weta Digital to show Gort's scale, and to do so, they put a little man in the corner. Several of us were sitting in a pre-production office beating this thing to death when I said, 'I have a stupid thing to say, but to me Gort is the little guy in the corner.' And one by one, everyone agreed."

The second version, designed by Sims and fleshed out at Weta into three dimensions, looked more like the 1951 robot, but was too generic. "He looked like a tube man at a gas station," Okun says.

Version three looked like a guy in a suit. Version four was so close that Okun had the animators apply motion data captured from actor Shane Rangi, who had played several villains in the Lord of the Rings movies and the King Kong remake. "We put the sequence together and found another flaw," Okun says. "[The CG character] had good angles and bad angles, and, unfortunately, the animatics always used his worst angle — dead-on front. I was depressed." Version five was a tweak.

Okun was ready to model version five Gort when Joe Letteri, Weta executive producer, suggested camera moves and lighting changes that made the difference. "Gort was awesome," Okun says. "The process was more difficult than I expected, but in the end, we're paying homage to the old Gort and I think people will really dig it."

So, what's Gort made of? "Nothing we know," Okun teases. "He's organic and not organic, living and dead. The more everyone saw him, the more they liked him." He appears in approximately 12 minutes of the film.

At Weta, Kevin Rafferty concentrated on supervising shots with Gort, the sphere, and the alien arriving in Central Park, and R. Christopher White supervised the destruction shots and helped develop the look of the sphere.

To create the CG character's performance, animators at Weta refined motion-capture data. "He's a basic biped, but we didn't want him to be too human," Rafferty says. "So our animation team added little hitches to infuse a bit of mechanical movement."

"Gort has what we call inert and active phases," Rafferty adds. "When he's inert, he looks solid, like something between metal and polished stone."

And when he's active?

The trailers provide a quick blink at his active state, but describing it further is a SPOILER. You've been warned.

"The polished stone suggests that there is a substructure underneath," Rafferty says. "When he becomes active, we get the hint that he's not made of one solid thing. He's made up of what we called aphids — cross-hatched, interwoven aphids."

To create that impression, the crew placed a series of texture maps over and around the surface of the Gort geometry. "The texture maps were pathways and guidelines for how the particles would flow," Rafferty says. The particles controlled the nanobot aphids.

"Our trickery was that we had multiple layers of particles traversing the surface, rather than creating a whole volume for Gort," Rafferty says. "They stay in shape until one quintessential moment when the aphids are unleashed and he dissolves."

When Gort raises his arms, the aphids flow from his wrist to his forearm and then his head dissolves. The aphids begin eating and as they eat, they multiply. And that creates the swarms that destroy Giants Stadium and the truck.

In one shot during the film, a power-of-10 zoom shows the tiny animals chomping away. "They kind of look like a metallic robot version of a housefly, for lack of a better comparison," Rafferty says. "They have mean jaws. We called them aphids because of their almost microscopic nature."

Full Press: http://www.studiodaily.com/main/technique/casestudies/10290.html

'Button' Pushes Oscar's Digital Debate: Voters Consider Motion-Capture Performance

(variety.com)

Are Oscar's acting kudos ready to embrace the digital age?

While the Acad's tech branches have been pondering the blurring of categories as digital artists create more and more of what's seen onscreen, the debate has been mostly irrelevant in the acting realm -- until now.

Brad Pitt's eponymous turn in Par's "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button," may force the thesp branch to consider recognizing perfs with a significant digital component.

Previously, motion-capture performances were easy to dismiss, being either in animated movies or supporting roles in genre pics. But with Pitt as Benjamin Button, the techniques are being applied to part of a perf by a major movie star starring in a prestige drama.

So new is the process that even the studio was initially confused.

"The big question from Paramount all the way through the process was, 'When does Brad come into the movie?' " says helmer David Fincher. "And I would always say, 'He's going to be there from the first frame.' And they would laugh and say, 'When does Brad come into the movie?' And I would swear he's going to be there from the first frame.

"And I'm happy to say that I think he is, he is there from the first frame of the film."

No actor has ever been nominated for an Oscar for an animation voiceover or any kind of motion-capture perf. Thesps haven't been inclined to recognize stints where they don't see the actor on the screen.

But other kudos have been more receptive. The Golden Globes gave Robin Williams a special award for his perf as Genie in "Aladdin" and Andy Serkis' turn as Gollum was included in the ensemble acting kudos for "The Lord of the Rings."

More than one option

• (Person) Robin Williams
  Narrator, Voice, Song Performer
• (Person) Robin Williams
• (Person) Robin Williams
  Song, Song Performer, Actor
• (Person) Robin Williams
  Assistant Accountant, Second Assistant Accountant

In "Benjamin Button," Pitt stars as a man who ages backward, with key periods tracked from his elderly look to infancy.

The baby Benjamin is a puppet and the boys at the end are simply young actors who resemble Pitt. The majority of the movie clearly features Pitt onscreen, his age and appearance manipulated via makeup, wigs, costumes and computer effects.

But for a significant chunk of the picture, Pitt appears in a kind of hybrid perf unlike anything seen on film before: As the elderly toddler and tween in the early scenes, it's clearly Pitt's face, but greatly aged -- more than could be accomplished with makeup. It's also clearly not Pitt's body.

The scenes were done with an actor on the set playing Benjamin; different actors were used according to his age. In the meantime a digital "puppet" of Pitt's aged head was created. Pitt performed the face and dialogue separately. His performance was used to drive the digital puppet, which was digitally attached to the live-action body. The body performance was digitally adjusted where needed to accommodate Pitt's choices and timing.

Most mo-cap perfs of the past required lots of manipulation by animators, so it wasn't always clear who was creating the performance. But in this case, says Fincher, "The only acting being done is being done by Brad."

"One of the things I was so adamant about from the beginning was this was, 'Look, this is not about animation. ... This is not about somebody making a behavioral choice for Brad. ... We just need to figure out a way to Xerox the way that his face is moving.' "

Where animators got involved, says Fincher, was when they made sure Pitt's perf really made it onto the screen. "All of the markerless performance-capture stuff, it's good, but it sometimes smoothing or dulling or desensitizing. It tends to be a bit of a mask. I like to call it 'the digital Botox.' "

"So part of what you need to do is you need to go back through and make sure that you're retaining things the computer didn't think were important."

In other recent pics where characters had to play a wide age range, notably "Slumdog Millionaire," "The Reader" and "Atonement," multiple actors played the characters. Sometimes it works; other times it's jarring for audiences.

The mo-cap-puppetry technique could begin to spell the end of that. It could also herald the arrival of a new kind of acting.

In 2001, helmer Robert Zemeckis predicted that eventually a single actor would be able to play any or all parts in a film -- a concept he advanced with Tom Hanks in "The Polar Express" and is revisiting with Jim Carrey in Disney's "A Christmas Carol." In the meantime, says Zemeckis, "I think actors will have to learn to act in a digital style. You'll have different training as an actor. Kind of the way that stage actors had to learn to act in film. There'll be virtual workshops, where you'll learn to act in a bluescreen void, react to nothing, pieces of tape. ... You'll have to have your virtual chops."

Indeed, actors from "300" and "Sin City" have remarked on how working in front of bluescreens, with minimal sets, reminds them of their stage roots.

Whether thesps will consider such roles for kudos attention remains to be seen.

Ten Best Special-Effects Hollywood Films

(jamaica-gleaner.com) Visual effects in modern motion pictures are as important as casting, directing or producing. Many of the blockbuster films of the last 15 years have been driven by visual and special effects with famous flicks, such as Titanic, Jurassic Park, The Matrix and The Lord of the Rings trilogy, all having picked up Oscars for Best Achievement in that category.

The category was called Best Special Effects when it was created in 1939. In 1963, it was split into two: Best Visual Effects and Best Sound Effects.

Then, in 1972, the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Science stopped giving out awards for Visual Effects and instead gave Special Achievement awards.

But, in 1996, it changed again to Best Visual Effects. Emphasis is placed on the artistry, skill and fidelity with which the visual illusions are achieved.

Today, I share my take on the 10 best special-effects Hollywood films.

1 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY (1968). This landmark film, directed by the legendary Stanley Cherubic from a story by Arthur C. Clarke, provided the ultimate trip and inspired the United States' space exploration programme to this day. Who can forget Al, the rebellious computer with human emotions, or for that matter, the opening sequence in which an Ape from the Stone Age throws his bone into the air and this is transformed into a spaceship?

2 TITANIC (1997): Director James Cameron's masterpiece has become the most profitable film of all time, grossing over US$1 billion worldwide. Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet provide the love interest aboard the ill-fated Titanic, which struck an iceberg and sank on its maiden voyage
in 1912. The special effects in the second half of the film are something to behold. Won a slew of Oscars, including Best Picture and Visual Effects.

3 STAR WARS (1977), starring Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher and Sir Alec Guinness. Inspired by 2001: A Space Odyssey, George Lucas' epic space adventure broke new ground in technical achievements and spawned a highly successful series, which included The Empire Strikes Back, Return of the Jedi, Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace, Episode II: Attack of The Clones and Episode III: Revenge of the Sith.

4 THE MATRIX (1999), starring Keanu Reeves, Laurence Fishburne, Carrie-Ann Moss and Hugo Weaving.The ultimate digitally manipulated film, made famous for Reeves' fantastic bullet-dodging and fight scenes, has become a classic in the genre. This huge money-maker mushroomed into two sequels: The Matrix: Reloaded and The Matrix Revolutions.

5 INDEPENDENCE DAY (1996): Starring Will Smith, Bill Pullman, Vivica A. Fox, Jeff Goldblum and Randy Quaid. The United States, and ultimately the world, are invaded by alien ships and utter destruction unfolds. The actors are outdone by the impressive special effects.

6 LORD OF THE RINGS: THE RETURN OF THE KING (2005): Starring Elijah Wood, Sir Ian McKellen, Orlando Bloom, Viggo Mortensen, Cate Blanchett and Sean Astin.

The third and final in the popular series directed by Peter Jackson, this one took visual effects to another level and swept the Oscars, winning all 11 (including Best Picture) for which it was nominated.

7 EARTHQUAKE (1974), starring Charlton Heston, Ava Gardner, Richard Roundtree, George Kennedy, Genevieve Bujold. The only 'oldie' on the list, this disaster epic depicting a major earthquake destroying the city of Los Angeles, California, is memorable for its spellbinding imagery. The Academy duly obliged.

8 JURASSIC PARK (1993), starring Sam Neil, Laura Dern, Jeff Goldblum and Sir Richard Attenborough. Steven Spielberg's chilling tale of dinosaurs on an island elevated special effects of gigantic proportions. This one was the real deal and was followed by two sequels, which were just as popular, or should I say, scary.

9 SPIDERMAN 3 (2007), starring Tobey Maguire, Kirsten Dunst and James Franco. The third and easily the best in the blockbuster series, thanks to better characterisation and superior visual effects. Maguire is even more convincing as the comic-book hero who discovers his demons.

10 TRANSFORMERS (2007): Starring Shia LaBeouf and Megan Fox. Tenth place on any list is always the most difficult as it involves so many considerations. Should it be The Terminator, ET, Blade Runner, Alien, The Fly or King Kong? The nod goes to this noisy, special effects-driven mega hit about a young man who gets caught up in a titanic autobot war. Take that, Megatron!

Source: http://www.jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/20081213/features/features13.html

Worth a mention - 12/12/08

Cinesite Creates Explosive VFX for "The Day The Earth Stood Still"

(digitalartsonline.co.uk) Cinesite has completed a major VFX sequence for the Twentieth Century Fox production The Day The Earth Stood Still, which releases today in the US and UK, complete with CG planes, tanks and spectacular explosions.

Cinesite's main effects involve a sequence in which the US army attacks the robot Gort with two drone (Reaper) aircraft. They fly through the city of New York, firing missiles at Gort, which is standing in Central Park. Gort takes control of the Reapers, crashing them into the ground, where they collide spectacularly with military tanks and humvees.

With visual effects supervisor Jeff Okun in New Zealand supervising other effects, Jim Rygiel was brought on board to supervise the Reaper sequence location aerial shoot in New York.

The Reapers were constructed by Cinesite's team of modellers and textured using photographic reference supplied by Rygiel. A full aerodynamic flight surface rig was implemented, complete with 3D heat haze and wing tip con-trail effects passes.

The environments were created by respeeding helicopter plates filmed by Rygiel, to add dynamism and pace. The original skies were also replaced and regraded to create new lighting conditions. A series of 3D digital matte paintings were also created for a few shots where it proved impossible to shoot real elements in New York.

The final effects in the sequence involve one of the Reapers crashing into a tank on the ground, resulting in a massive explosion. Aside from a greenscreen soldier element, the entire shot is digital, with Cinesite's CG Reaper, a photorealistic CG M1A1 tank, Humvee, Light Armoured vehicle and CG missiles and smoke trails.

As the Reaper impacts the CG M1A1 tank, a clever destruction simulation system was generated using Blast Code to break the CG tank to pieces in a physically correct way. The explosion was further augmented by 2D smoke, flashes, fire and debris passes, which clear to reveal a damaged M1A1, with a custom 'damage' texture map.

Full press: http://www.digitalartsonline.co.uk/news/index.cfm?NewsID=11871

From Hulk to Gort, Monster Man Gets Creative With Creatures

(log.wired.com) When The Day the Earth Stood Still remake opens Friday, moviegoers will get their first glimpse of re-imagined alien robot Gort.

The original Gort, pictured at right in promo artwork from the 1951 movie, served as a starting point for concept designer Aaron Sims, who cooked up the menacing robot that unleashes a horde of ravenous microbots in director Scott Derrickson's updated version of the sci-fi classic.

Though Sims is not authorized to share images from The Day the Earth Stood Still before the movie opens, he says the new Gort — which visits Earth with alien Klaatu (played by Keanu Reeves) — should appeal to modern film fans without putting off sci-fi nuts fixated on the original flick.

The robot "was called The Idol for a while, because when the thing came out we wanted it to be this monument-like character," said Sims. "We forged many different paths but eventually decided to get back to something that would work for fans of the original movie."

A professional freakmaker, Sims earns his living hunched over a computer, using Photoshop and Softimage to conjure demons, aliens and assorted mutants for Hollywood popcorn movies. Sims' 3-D renderings are used by visual-effects houses as a foundation for character development.

Raised in Texas, where he was mentored by his father, a professional animator, and by sci-fi illustrator Don Ivan Punchatz, Sims moved to Los Angeles in 1985 at age 19 and landed a two-year gig painting creatures for Gremlins 2. Then he worked 12 years for Oscar-winning makeup genius Rick Baker, followed by a five-year stint with the late special-effects whiz Stan Winston.

Three years ago, Sims (pictured right) set up his own shop. The low-key Aaron Sims Company headquarters, tucked away in a drab Hollywood office complex, seems an unlikely spawning ground for shrieking devils and microbot-spewing automatons.

But the Bobbin' Head Hulk doll and framed portraits of fanged monsters remind visitors that the soft-spoken Sims helps create very loud action franchises. In the next couple of years, his handiwork will be seen in comic-book flicks The Green Lantern and X-Men Origins: Magneto, and his big-screen mutants will surface in The Unborn.

Full press with pics: http://blog.wired.com/underwire/2008/12/monster-man-beh.html




PIXAR's Demo Reel Checklist

(shady3d.blogspot.com) Okay. So you're looking for a job/internship/food-service position at Pixar. You really should send a reel. Without some evidence of your visual skills, we generally assume you have none. Here are some quick and easy guidelines.

Guidelines:

* A reel submission has 4 parts:
o the reel
o the cover letter
o the resume
o the reel table of contents

Send them all. The cover letter can (and should) be brief. The resume should tell us where you've worked, what kind of coursework you've had, and what tools, languages, and systems you can use. The reel's table of contents is really essential (see below). Don't force us to look at a website - when we're looking at reels, we're all greased and ready to go with reels, not websites. (We will look at websites if we're hiring you as a web designer.)

No more than 3 minutes. Just like a resume is no more than 1 page unless you've been CEO or a senator. I

Full Press: http://shady3d.blogspot.com/2008/11/pixars-demo-reel-checklist.html




Double Negative Sets Up Singapore VFX Studio

(straitstimes.com)

THE special effects wizards behind Batman, Hellboy and Harry Potter are setting up shop in Singapore.

Double Negative, Britain's largest special effects company, will open an office here by March next year where animators and designers will work on upcoming movies like Harry Potter And The Half-Blood Prince, the newest film from the wildly popular boy wizard franchise.

Double Negative will start with over a dozen staff. It is the latest in a string of companies, including Lucasfilm Animation Singapore, that have established a base in Singapore.

Its recent credits include blockbusters like The Dark Knight, Hellboy II: The Golden Army, Cloverfield and Quantum Of Solace.

Set up in 1998, Double Negative is now working on action film Kick-Ass and horror flick The Wolf Man.

Mr Ken McGaugh, co-head of 3-D at Double Negative, said the initial plan was for a handful of staff from the company's office in Britain to start up the Singapore branch. They would work with eight Singaporeans who interned with the company this year and worked on The Dark Knight and Hellboy II.

'By hiring locals, we bring the opportunity to work on high-profile Hollywood films. I think the spillover effects would be quite strong,' said Mr McGaugh.

The company said it was in talks with landlords about office space, but it declined to reveal how much money it is spending to set up shop here.

The Singapore arm will stick with Hollywood projects in the beginning but may work on Asian films in the future.

Double Negative had been looking to expand since 2006. The efforts of the Media Development Authority and other government bodies, together with the local infrastructure, convinced chief executive Matt Holben that Singapore is the right place for a new office.

'Singapore had an impressively clear strategy and direction in terms of its focus on becoming a digital media hub,' he said.

'Most importantly, we spent a lot of time visiting universities and schools, as well as businesses across the island, in this line of work and were truly impressed by the energy and quality of work we found.'

The new office would give those entering the industry an opportunity to work on top projects immediately instead of working their way up, said Mr Patrick Woo, 32, one of the eight interns-turned- full-time staff at Double Negative.

'Those interested in movies now have an option other than joining companies where you may end up working on other projects like commercials, games or television shows.'

At the Siggraph Asia 2008 exhibition and conference, which focused on computer graphics and interactive media and opened at Suntec City Convention Centre yesterday, several companies were hiring artists, animators and programmers.

Lucasfilm Animation Singapore said it would add 120 people to its current roster of 280 by the end of next year, while a recruiter for game studio Ubisoft, which opened an office here in July this year, said it was recruiting up to 2,000 more people for its offices worldwide in the next two years.

George Lucas Brings Star Wars to London Stage

(vfxworld.com) BBC NEWS is reporting that STAR WARS: A MUSICAL JOURNEY will debut in London in April, then tour Europe.

The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra will play a live score as excerpt from the six films are shown onscreen. The show was put together by Lucasfilm and composer John Williams. It will not have actors playing characters, but will feature live narrators.

The six films in the STAR WARS saga have been edited down to two hours and Williams has "painstakingly rewritten" the music he wrote, said a statement from Lucasfilm.

The Philharmonic will utilize an 86-piece orchestra and an accompanying exhibition will have original models, props, costumes and production artwork.

London's O2 Arena will host the London premiere. David Campbell, CEO of AEG Europe, which runs the arena, said, "STAR WARS holds memories for practically everyone. John Williams is THE composer of our times, and fans will be thrilled to know that both he and Lucasfilm have contributed fully to this new production. To have the premiere at the O2 is a real coup for us, and I know there will be a lot of very happy STAR WARS fans out there when they hear the news."

Tickets will go on sale Monday, costing between GBP 30 and GBP 100. The show is set to premiere April 10.

EA Abandons Plans For New Canadian Studio

(gamasutra.com) EA Abandons Plans For New Canadian Studio Electronic Arts has abandoned plans to open a new studio in Vancouver, Canada, citing lower than expected revenues from the current year and the more general effects of the global economic slowdown.

EA already operates two studios in the city: Need for Speed developer Black Box and FIFA developer EA Canada. The new studio was to have been housed in a 20,000 square foot facility in the city\u2019s Yaletown district, with planning beginning around a year ago.

No hiring target had been set for the new studio, and it is unclear what its focus would have been.

Despite a rise in critical acclaim for its more recent titles, EA has suffered a number of setbacks this year, with lower-than-expected sales forcing the company to lower its expectations for both revenues and earnings for the fiscal year.

As a result, the company has said it plans to reduce its headcount, consolidate existing facilities, and reduce the number of products produced in the next financial year.

"These are challenging times, they're uncertain times for our industry and across the board," spokesman Colin Macrae told The Globe and Mail. "We continue to be firmly rooted in Vancouver."

Boom or Bust Times For Anim Startups & Outsource Studios

(ciol.com) Will the "so-called runaway film production" survive in the gloomy US economy hovering over its film and entertainment industry? Certainly it will survive and have more growth opportunities voices the Indian animation industry (IAI).

IAI is dear and near to movie companies and production houses back in States, mainly for its quality work and low cost outsourcing services. But at present the multi-billion entertainment sector is facing heat of the meltdown, resulting in project delays, lack of funds with high production costs.

Recently, Sparx, a toon company closed its Paris studio and moved to Vietnam's Ho Chi Minh city, while NBC/ Universal studios announced cut in production budget for 2009 due to recession.

Shift, merger and acquisition

Aptech Limited's executive vice president R Krishnan reckons that for Indian animation studios and companies looking for acquisitions and collaborations it's a good time.

"Reports say that Pixion is acquiring two UK based studios following in the lines of Prime Focus. DQ Entertainment (DQE) and Turner Entertainment Network (TEN) Asia have tied up for two animated features- Balkand and Ravan, which will be exclusively premiered on TEN in 2009. So India still remains the most sought-after destination for producing quality animation content," says Krishnan.

"Normally, an animated feature film costs around US$300-500 million and it's hard to fund in the present scenario. So the US industry is looking to find creative opportunities and ways to cut costs so they still are looking to outsource work from India," he added.

While, Anibrain Digital Technologies' founder, Jesh Krishna Murthy considers shifting studios to be more complex due to investments risks, new setup costs, staffs and the culture.

"But, shifting can happen in India and other nations, via partnerships or collaborations with local studios means more business ahead," Murthy observes.

"Like other sectors, animation was also over hyped, so the slowdown is good to bring in correction in the industry. For serious players it's a good time, but for new startups and companies planning to enter the business, its bad," he said.

Similarly, Maya Academy of Advanced Cinematics (MAAC) executive vice president, Jai Natrajan sees growth and no slowdown. "We have clients world over and so we have quite a few projects in the pipeline and movie projects are going forward as per plans, maybe with slight lesser budgets," said Natrajan.

More fun, more business

IAI banks on this old mantra and cites growth. "Generally, it's a known fact, during depression people tends to go for more entertainment. So, it's actually a good time for our business," Murthy points.

Also Krishnan too suggests the same, "During recession, it's proven that people still want to watch movies and get entertained. So the crisis would not affect our industry," but urges that during such phase the domestic market and local content needs to be focused more.

Global Vs local content demand

Though, IAI has high content demand in global market, the domestic demand hasn't grown yet. Among other reasons, the foreign TV channels have less preference for local content. "In a year there's a demand for 4-5 good regional features due to our demography and cultures. But there's not much support from TV channels because of the economics of cost and content," Natrajan opines.

Are You In The VFX & Animation "SmartBook"?

(shootonline.com) The SHOOT SmartBook:"Visual Effects & Animation" is an ideal digital tool for sourcing industry contacts, key decision makers and building networks in the special effects segment of the commercial and entertainment motion picture marketplace. (To view/download SmartBook VFX PDF file click here)

This interactive reference directory is a fully downloadable, searchable, and printable digial file with the look and feel of a traditional print directory. This is an easily accessible tool for advertising agencies, filmmakers, television/cable stations, websites and other companies who produce motion pictures involved in the rapidly growing business of motion picture visual effects & animation.

The "SHOOT SmartBook: Visual Effects & Animation" consists of of over 500 company listings from SHOOTonline.com's online directory along with visual FX feature stories, our Top 10 charts, and interactive display ads from company's supporting SHOOT magazine.

Categories within this SmartBook "Visual Effects & Animation" Edition include:
> Animation Production Company
> Computer Graphics & Visual FX Services
> Computer Graphics Equipment & Software Rental
> Computer Graphics Equipment Manufacturer
> Software Publisher - Computer Graphics | Visual FX
> Visual Effects | Animation CG Companies

Ideal for future reference and/or printing out a copy to have on hand, or pass around, "SHOOT SmartBooks" serve the contact data research needs of commercial and entertainement motion picture makers who need up-to-date information on companies they may want to connect with for upcoming projects for products and services operating in the advertising, filmmaking, television/cable, and online video production and post-production market.

Take a look: http://www.shootonline.com/go/smartbooks




A Look At The "Terminator Factory"

Here's a first-look image from one of the most promising films of 2009, "Terminator Salvation."

Yes, that's right, I absolutely think the film has the chance to be great, an opinion formed when I visited the set, watched quite a bit of footage and spent time talking to the cast and director McG about the premise and tone of the film. To be candid, I had gone to the New Mexico set with a considerable amount of skepticism but after learning about the grim tale of the film, I'm a true believer ... or, at the very least, a true optimist.

This scene shows Christian Bale as the adult John Connor of 2018 where he and humanity are locked in an ugly (and losing) battle with the murderous machines of Skynet. The film opens May 22 and I will be writing a lot more about it between now and then.

Take a look: http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/herocomplex/2008/12/first-look-term.html

Twilight's Werewolf Booted from Wolf-Centric Sequel?

(io9.com) The blood-sucking beast Twilight is pushing forward with a release date for sequel New Moon faster than the Cullen family can scarf down a deer. Missing in action is one long-haired wolf boy.

According to Entertainment Weekly the next angsty vampire script is ready to go full speed into production as soon as December 15. The next movie adaptation of Stephenie Meyer's second book in the Twilight series, New Moon, is done and Summit Entertainment is pressed to start filming while the iron is hot with a tentative release date of November 20th, 2009 with the third book movie (Eclipse) out soon after.

Poor Jacob the werewolf, played by Taylor Lautner, is getting pushed out the door as sources say people don't think he can carry the next movie on his shoulders (as New Moon focuses on Bella's new wolfie love interest). According to their sources Lautner's agent even reached out to the Benjamin Button FX crew to see if there was any way they could buff him up digitally, and who wouldn't this movie is a cash cow.

But as for Twilight director Catherine Hardwicke, all signs are pointing towards the door. She balked at the grueling production schedule and wanted to make the dreamy vampire Edward Cullen a small part of the second movie (which aligns with the book but who will buy all the Edward Cullen dolls then?). And who's the rumored director none other than American Pie's Chris Weitz who produced all three Pie movies, so maybe this Twilight will be a little spicier than the previous film, or full of penis jokes.

Lautner is safe until a new filmmaker enters the picture, but methinks heads will be rolling soon. If there's a shred of doubt, I bet he's out. Just ask Hardwicke.

Harry Potter Stuntman Wins Lottery

As a movie stuntman, Mark Lisbon has made a living out of standing in for Hollywood stars when the action hots up.

He played Gary Oldman's double in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban and was transformed into Johnny Depp in Chocolat.

But today the father-of-two appeared in front of the cameras as himself, as he starred alongside his partner Jane Surtees following a £7.5 million lottery jackpot win.

Thanks to their big win Mr Lisbon, 42, and Miss Surtees, 48, can now afford to live like the superstars he has pretended to be on the silver screen.

Despite the tough nature of his job, Mr Lisbon, who is currently the stunt co-ordinator of the long-running TV series Heartbeat, has no intention of giving up work.

'I have been shot lots of times, beaten up, blown up, drowned and fallen off cliffs and bridges,' he said.

The job he has done for years involves numerous 'fights and chases', for little financial reward.

'I get just about enough to pay the bills,' said the stuntman, whose list of film credits also includes James Bond's Golden Eye, Lara Croft: Tomb Raider, Batman Returns and Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason.

But now the couple's financial troubles are well and truly over.

Like many other ordinary people Miss Surtees, a divorced mother-of-five, was feeling the pinch and worrying how she was going to pay her £163 phone bill when the numbers she has faithfully been using for 14 years to play the National Lottery finally came up.

She checked the results on Thursday morning on Teletext as she tried to get her youngest children ready for school.

Her daughter Jasmyn, seven, saw her looking at the lottery website and said: 'Have you won some money Mum?' The girl misread the figure as £7,500 and added 'wow...can we go to Cadbury World now.'

Miss Surtees, who works as her partner's personal assistant, said she had been so 'skint' that last week at a family wedding the only food she could afford to buy was 'prawn cocktail crisps and pickled eggs.'

'I still can't get my head round it, but it's very exciting,' she said today.

'It's everybody's dream, I have been buying two lottery tickets a week using the same family birthday numbers for years and never won a penny. But I did think I might win it some day.'

Miss Surtees said the win would ensure she and her children Rachel, 23, Richard, 20, Naomi, 12, Leona, 11 and Jasmyn, were secure for the rest of their lives.

She plans to move from her cramped end-of-terrace house in Whitby, North Yorkshire, and replace her battered old Fiesta with a top-of-the-range people mover.

She also plans to 'travel' and 'carry on having a ball' with the stuntman she met and fell in love with on the set of Heartbeat five years ago.

While Mr Lisbon has done the stunts, she has had regular walk on roles and all their seven children have appeared in the series at some stage.

Ironically, the day before she struck lucky, Miss Surtees was chatting to Mr Lisbon about what they would do if they won the lottery and how they would spend the cash.

Now that moment has come Mr Lisbon said they were 'bewildered' and not sure what to do.

'You expect to jump for joy, but it's not like that,' he said.