Legendary Lands ‘Duke Nukem’ Feature Adaptation Rights
'Cobra Kai’ creators Josh Heald, Jon Hurwitz, and Hayden Schlossberg will produce the project, based on Gearbox’s cult favorite ’90s shooting game.
The Embassy Names Danielle Kinsey Head of Production
10-year company veteran gets new title and new responsibilities, now tasked with management of studio’s expanding production slate; will also support the creative teams while promoting connections between global partners and the LA and Vancouver offices.
Dougal Wilson to Direct ‘Paddington in Peru’
The acclaimed commercial helmer will make his feature debut with the third chapter of the family film series, replacing Paul King, who recently departed as director of the project to take on ‘Wonka’ with Timothee Chalamet.
Jake Schreier to Direct Marvel’s ‘Thunderbolts’
The ‘Robot & Frank’ filmmaker will direct from a script by ‘Black Widow’ writer Eric Pearson, with Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige producing
Justin Lin to Direct Live-Action ‘One Punch Man’ for Sony Pictures
The director’s next big swing, after relinquishing his duties on ‘Fast X’ earlier this year, will be a feature film adaptation of the famed anime and manga.
DNEG Nixes SPAC Business Combination Deal with Sports Ventures
Due to unfavorable SPAC market conditions, the companies have terminated their pending business combination agreement that would have seen the the leading VFX and animation studio go public.
Apple TV+’s ‘Lovely Little Farm’ Boasts Some Pretty Lovely Little CG
Creators Maddy Darrall and Billy Macqueen talk about their new live-action / CG animated kids’ series, now streaming, about 2 sisters caring for the animals on their family farm, and how ILM’s single biggest challenge… was creating Quackety Duck Duck.
VIEW Conference 2022 Reveals Initial Speaker Lineup
Peter Ramsey, Roy Conli, Rob Minkoff, Ramsey Naito and Shannon Tindle are a few of the top industry leaders coming to Torino to attend and present in person at Italy’s premiere animation, VFX, games, and computer graphics conference, running October 16-21, onsite and online.
Registration Now Open for Escape Studios Summer Unreal Engine Courses
Through courses produced in collaboration with Epic Games and ScreenSkills, participants get hands-on training in Unreal Engine and Virtual Production; classes range from ‘Unreal Fridays’ designed for the UK commercials sector to ‘London Connectors,’ a 5-week program in immersive storytelling.
Unreal Engine Mesh to MetaHuman Plugin Now Available
New features for the cloud-based MetaHuman Creator let users create photorealistic digital humans, complete with hair and clothing, in minutes; plugin features support new character rigging, animation, and physics features in UE5.
DNEG Announces xStudio Free Open Source Review Application
Coming later this year, the app is aimed at establishing an industry-standard toolset for collaborative review; designed to integrate into individual pipelines, teams can review shots, edits, and grades in a single, unified application on all desktop platforms and operating systems.
‘Ghostbusters’ Animated Film Confirmed, Setting of ‘Afterlife’ Sequel Revealed
More big news from Jason Reitman and Gil Kenan, who shared the announcements during yesterday’s ‘Ghostbusters Day’ celebration; new animated series based on the IP also in the works.
Ingenuity Studios Expands NY Leadership Team
Joyce Boll named EVP of Features & Episodics; east coast post-production veteran will spearhead VFX house’s growth and presence in New York.
MPC Marks ‘Ghostbusters Day’ With Dr. Spengler VFX Breakdown
Tasked with recreating the late Harold Ramis in ‘Ghost Busters: Afterlife,’ the VFX studio referenced earlier movies, concept art, and libraries of skin maps and photos, to deliver a digital character that was satisfying to both audiences and the actor’s family.
Epic Games Drops ‘The Matrix Awakens: An Unreal Engine 5 Experience’ Tech Demo
Behind-the-scenes making-of video spotlights how far we’ve come since the 1999 release of ‘The Matrix;’ creation of photorealistic virtual worlds with tools like MetaHuman Creator and procedural city generation systems open new possibilities in filmmaking.
‘Prehistoric Planet’: Visualizing Our Best Guess at the Late Cretaceous Period
Director Adam Valdez and animation supervisor Andy Jones walk us through five dinosaur-filled biomes as imagined, 66 million years ago on Earth, in the new series from Jon Favreau and the famed BBC Studios Natural History Unit, now streaming on Apple TV+.
Framestore Pictures Adds Director Ivan Bird
Company to represent the internationally recognized filmmaker in the US and Canada; recent commercial directorial credits include the ‘zero carbon-powered’ ad for Hitachi and McDonald’s ‘Simply Timeless’ retro spot.
Union Shares VFX Breakdown Reel for WWII Thriller ‘Operation Mincemeat’
Studio was the sole visual effects vendor on the Warner Bros. feature - about Great Britain’s successful deception operation prior to the 1943 Allied invasion of Sicily - providing key CG ships and vehicles, wartime London environments, and troops storming into battle.
Disney+ Reveals ‘I Am Groot’ Shorts Key Art and Launch Date
Van Diesel voices the mischievous toddler, Baby Groot, in Marvel Studios’ latest addition to the streamer’s summer lineup; the collection of 5 original films debuts August 10.
Pixomondo Looks to AWS for Virtual Production Stage Collaboration
Leading VFX studio has integrated Amazon Web Services into its next-gen entertainment production workflow to optimize remote connectivity and support real-time iterations for immediate review and feedback.
Disney+ Drops ‘A Fan’s Guide to Ms. Marvel’
The recently released documentary short gives fans a look at the comic book origin, development and production of the highly anticipated Marvel Studios’ series premiering June 8.
Third and Final Season of ‘The Orville: New Horizons’ Returns as a Hulu Exclusive
Creator and star Seth MacFarlane says the sci-fi series’ move from FOX to Hulu better served its character-driven comedy.
BlueBolt Shares VFX Breakdown Reel from ‘The Last Kingdom’ Season 5
Visual effects studio delivers 782 shots as the lead vendor on the final season of the hit Netflix series, filled with sprawling CG armies, historically accurate CG ships, environments, and of course, bloody Saxon battles.
‘Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness’ Coming to Disney+
The streamer drops new online spot with Benedict Cumberbatch, Benedict Wong, and Elizabeth Olsen, thanking fans and announcing that the mystical allies will join forces again… in your living room; Marvel Studios’ latest MCU outing, with all its ‘strangeness,’ streams June 22.
VES Executive Director Eric Roth to Retire
Roth plans to step down September 30 after leading the organization for 19 years; read the complete text of his letter submitted yesterday to the executive committee.
