AWN Headline News

With MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE 2 still holding on in many countries, PERFECT STORMs debut in Hong Kong and the U.K. shook up the international box office. Finishing at the top spot in the U.K., STORM grossed US$2.86 million over the weekend and $3.25 million since its Wednesday nod. Slipping to #2, STUART LITTLE grossed $2.08 million, advancing its British cume to $9.59 million. The U.K. sensation, CHICKEN RUN, amassed another $1.82 million in third, bringing its cume to $28.85 million.

Pulse Entertainment has signed a deal with Paris-based digital post-production company, Exmachina, which will have the French post house resell Pulse technology to developers, designers, agencies and corporate clients in Europe. Exmachina first utilized the Pulse software to create a Web character, Akinia, who helps on-line gamers solve riddles in a treasure hunt. "We are making Pulse technology one of the cornerstones as we build our Web business," said Pierre Noizat, general manager of Exmachina.

hey!, a design and production studio, finished new opens, bumpers and background elements for five History Channel shows. The firm created an open for SPY WEB, revised opens and bumpers for HISTORYS GREATEST BLUNDERS and WEAPONS AT WAR, and opens for MOVIES IN TIME and HARDCOVER HISTORY. For SPY WEB, hey! used a mainly gray palette and added bits of color to evoke a feel of coded messages. "We had this coding going on in a textured background, with letters that cycle and change and evolve into the SPY WEB logo," said creative director Laura Tolkow.

New York-based New Tinkerbell, Inc. has filed a copyright infringement lawsuit against the Walt Disney Co. in regards to the Tinkerbell trademark. As reported in the on-line magazine, INSIDE, New Tinkerbell and its several affiliates claim they purchased the rights to the character from the then rights holder, the Hospital for Sick Children of London, in 1952 a year before Disneys PETER PAN was released. For 13 years, New Tinkerbell has been producing various products with the image of Tinkerbell on them.

In typical summer blockbuster fashion, the newly released NUTTY PROFESSOR II: THE KLUMPS has dethroned last weeks U.S. box office champion WHAT LIES BENEATH. The KLUMPS Eddie Murphy-marathon, with primary visual effects by Double Negative Ltd., finished in first place with a gross of US$42.52 million. WHAT LIES came in at second with a gross of $22.86 million. The Harrison Ford haunter, with primary visual effects by SPI, has rounded up $69.35 million in only 10 days in release. In third, THE X-MEN grossed $12.68 million.

Adam Sandler has signed a deal with MediaTrip.com to produce a new comedy Web site entitled Shnorff.com. As part of the deal, MediaTrips parent company Joe Roths Revolution Studios has a first look agreement to produce any of the material created for the site in other mediums. Sandler will create the site with longtime producing partner Jack Giarraputo. In addition, former CAA and Endeavor agent, Doug Robinson, has been named Shnoff.coms CEO. Shnorff will feature animation, live-action shows, short films and games.

* Friday, July 28 Saturday, August 26, 2000. Santa Monica & Pasadena, California, U.S.A. Friday, August 25 Thursday, August 31, 2000. San Diego, California, U.S.A. Friday, September 1 Saturday, December 16, 2000. West Hollywood, California, U.S.A. Friday, September 1 Saturday, November 18, 2000. La Jolla, California, U.S.A. Friday, September 1 Saturday, November 18, 2000. Riverside, California, U.S.A.

* Tuesday, September 5 Tuesday, September 26, 2000. San Francisco, California, U.S.A. Friday, September 8 Saturday, September 9, 2000. Berkeley, California, U.S.A.

On Wednesday, July 27, 2000, Sony Corp. announced it fell into the red in the first quarter ended June 30, 2000 as one-off charges from a change in U.S. accounting rules eroded profits. The electronics and entertainment company posted a group net loss of ¥88.26 billion (US$808.2 million) in the quarter, versus an ¥18.43 billion ($168.8 million) profit a year prior. Sony had ¥101.65 billion ($930.8 million) in extraordinary losses from film advertising costs and canceled projects development expenses in the first quarter of this year due to new U.S.

The Conseil Superieur de lAudiovisuel (CSA), a French broadcasting watchdog, has approved the three-way merger between Vivendi, Canal + and Seagram, the parent of Universal Pictures. The okay came on the heels of Vivendi chairman and CEO Jean-Marie Messiers decision not to fold Canal +s subscriber base into Vivendi Universal, thus avoiding French television ownership laws prohibiting a single shareholder from owning 49% or more of a TV network.

Lucasfilm and fledgling Japanese anime company, Anime World Osaka, have agreed to co-produce an animated feature film entitled, THE TINY FAIRY MIRUN. As reported in YOMIURI SHIMBUN, George Lucas will executive produce the project. Osaka is set to provide the US$18.5 million budget. Lucas is scheduled to go to Osaka in September after production calms down on STAR WARS EPISODE II to sign the official contract. In a flip-flop of the usual process, Anime World will create the master illustrations in Osaka and ship the drawings to Lucasfilm for in-betweens.

Spontaneous Combustion has spruced up the CGI product shots and on-line edit for two Aube Cosmetics ads. "Lipstick" and Eyeshadow" were produced for Aube, one of Japans foremost cosmetic companies. Creative director Sam DeWitt said, "We built models and textures for the new compacts containing the make-up.