‘Stranger Things’ Season 5 Set to Begin Production in January
After facing numerous delays due to the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes, work resumes in the new year; the series' final season will now premiere sometime in 2025.
It’s a Wrap: SIGGRAPH Asia 2023
The annual conference concludes its latest edition, which ran December 12-15 in Sydney; 5,690 attendees from more than 40 countries gathered, including technical and creatives in research, science, art, animation, gaming, interactivity, education, and emerging technologies.
Matt Reeves’ ‘Arkham Asylum’ Series Officially in the DCU
DC Studios co-chairman James Gunn has confirmed the mysterious upcoming series will be canon and may feature characters and plotlines from other projects within the DCU; Reeves’ ‘The Batman – Part II’ and ‘The Penguin’ remain part of DC Elseworlds.
Matthew Orton Joins ‘Captain America: Brave New World’ As Writer
Although principal photography was completed before both the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes, additional shoots have been expected, delaying the film multiple times with the premiere now set for February 14, 2025.
‘One Piece’ Anime Remake Coming to Netflix
After the success of the live-action adaptation, the streamer has teamed with franchise creator Eiichiro Oda, Shueisha, Fuji Television Network, Toei Animation Co., and WIT Studio to reboot the pirate tale following Monkey D. Luffy and his misfit crew.
‘Wednesday’ Spinoff Featuring Uncle Fester in Development at Netflix
Fred Armisen is set to star in a spinoff of the fan favorite supernatural mystery series chronicling Wednesday Addams’ years as a student at Nevermore Academy, which has been greenlit for a second season.
Disney and Netflix Win Big at 2nd Annual Children’s & Family Emmy Awards
Disney Channel’s ‘Marvel's Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur,’ and Netflix’s ‘Lost Ollie’ and ‘Kung Fu Panda: The Dragon Knight’ were three of the top shows among the winners at this weekend's two separate awards ceremonies.
Grounding the Apocalyptic Visuals in ‘The Last of Us’
VFX supervisor Alex Wang talks the Infected, Bloaters, massive Bloaters, a giraffe, and a crashing airliner as he breaks down the production of 3,000 visual effects shots created by DNEG, Wētā FX, Distillery VFX, Zero VFX, Important Looking Pirates, beloFX, Storm Studios, Wylie Co., RVX, Assembly, Crafty Apes, UPP, RISE, Framestore, Digital Domain and MAS on HBO’s critically acclaimed and wildly popular series.
Gareth Edwards’ Epic Sci-fi Thriller ‘The Creator’ Coming to Hulu
The gripping adventure set amidst a future war between humans and the forces of AI debuts on the streamer December 20; also now available for purchase on digital and 4K Ultra HD, Blu-ray, and DVD.
French Music Artist Jacques’ ‘Absolve’ Music Video - Where Art + AI Meet
Created by Paul Trillo, the short follows a cosmic teardrop throughout the Musée Du Louvre; behind-the-scenes short illustrates how traditional VFX and AI tools help realize creative visions.
Prime Video Renews ‘Good Omens’ for Third and Final Season
The unlikely adventures of an angel and a demon, starring Michael Sheen and David Tennant, will conclude its run with an entirely original new season from co-creator Neil Gaiman.
Exclusive: Sizzling ‘Trolls Band Together’ VFX Sizzle Reel
See how the magic is made! Set to the hit Brozone tune, ‘Better Place,’ this all-new featurette from DreamWorks Animation's musical adventure comedy has it all: concept art - character designs - animation breakdowns - FX layers, and much, much more.
Scanline VFX Creates the Perfect Storm in Netflix’s ‘NYAD’
VFX Supervisor Dann Tarmy breaks down his team’s extensive use of water sims, including how they tackled the huge, new challenge of replacing water in plates where the actor was shot in the water, on Netflix’s biographical sports drama of marathon swimmer Diana Nyad’s attempts to swim from Cuba to Florida.
The Perfectly Imperfect VFX of ‘Poor Things’
For Simon Hughes and his Union VFX team, Yorgos Langthimos’ dark comedy, a stunningly designed visual maelstrom, required something completely different from a typical VFX project, including odd, surgically created hybrid animals using as much actual footage as possible, integration of plates shot with 3 different film stocks, 11 enormous wrap-around LED screens, 50s style painted backdrops, and some really crazy colored skies.
‘Percy Jackson and the Olympians’ to Premiere on Both Hulu and Disney+
Don’t get too excited… Hulu members can watch the first episode from December 20 through January 31, but still need to head to Disney+ for the second and all subsequent which will air weekly.
Aaron Dunkel Joins Alkemy X’s Creative Studio
Creative director and editor brings production and post expertise to the company’s U.S. commercial roster.
How Gareth Edwards Reverse-Engineered His Filmmaking on ‘The Creator’
The director and his VFX Supervisor, Jay Cooper, explain how they completely reversed the standard production process for his sci-fi epic, employing spontaneous live-action shoots that looked cool, not controlled, with 3D environments, digital matte paintings, and many other elements on the 1,600 visual effects shots designed afterwards, not before.
VFX Breakdown: BlueBolt Creates 1793 ‘Napoleon’ Battlegrounds
Studio delivered 126 VFX shots to help realize Ridley Scott’s vision of Napoleon’s 1793 Siege of Toulon and his violent suppression of the Paris riots two years later.
Walt Disney Studios’ VFX Workers File to Unionize
Group includes 83 artists working across James Cameron’s Lightstorm Entertainment productions, including ‘Avatar’ films, who are seeking representation by IATSE, marking the first U.S. vendor-side VFX artist filing with the NLRB.
Sony Pictures Imageworks Expands Creative Leadership
The award-winning VFX and animation company ups two VFX Supervisors, naming Michael Lasker Creative Director, CG Features and Nicola Lavender Director, CG Supervision.
Imaginary Friends ARE Real in ‘IF’ Teaser Trailer
From writer, director, producer and star John Krasinski, the live-action/3DCG hybrid film about a girl whose superpower lets her see everyone’s imaginary friend, and her magical adventure to reconnect forgotten ‘IFs’ with their kids, hit theaters in May 2024.
Danielle Brooks, Sebastian Eugene Hansen Board ‘Minecraft’
The upcoming live-action adaptation of Mojang’s best-selling video game has yet to secure a title but is set to hit theaters on April 4, 2025; production slated to begin in New Zealand by the end of December.
Seth MacFarlane’s Fuzzy Door Launches ‘ViewScreen’ Visualization Suite
Designed for full-scale productions, the new ProVis tools let filmmakers visualize and animate entire scenes, including digital assets, in real-time, across multiple cameras.
Nominations Revealed for the 29th Annual Critics Choice Awards
‘Barbie’ nabs 18 nominations, including Best Production Design, while ‘Oppenheimer’ and ‘Poor Things’ each scored 13 nominations, including Best Picture and Best Visual Effects, and ‘Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse’ earned 3 nominations, including Best Animated Feature and Best Visual Effects; winners will be announced January 14 at a gala broadcast live on The CW.
Netflix Drops Trailer for Live-Action ‘Yu Yu Hakusho’ Series
The five-part adaptation of the legendary smash-hit manga from Weekly Shonen Jump takes place across three worlds and follows a dead teen detective tasked with investigating demonic and spiritual cases in the Human World; the series begins streaming December 14.
