Category: Visual Effects

McG's production firm Wonderland Sound & Vision and James Stern's Endgame Ent. are set to co-produce horror flick, STAY ALIVE, reports VARIETY. First time director/writer Brent Bell will helm the picture, which follows a group of New Orleans teens as they play a videogame that spurs the losers own death in real life. Endgame will finance the film, which will start shooting in March. Matthew Peterman. McG, Peter Schlessel and Stern will produce, with Wonderland's David Manpearl as co-producer.

For Bryan Singers SUPERMAN, Warner Bros. has cast BEYOND THE SEA co-stars Kevin Spacey and Kate Bosworth as villain Lex Luthor and plucky reporter Lois Lane, respectively. Spaceys deal is locked and Bosworth is in negotiations. The summer tentpole with begin filming in Sydney on March 3, 2005. In October, newcomer Brandon Routh was cast to play the Man of Steel.

Walt Disney's Touchstone Pictures has hired director Gregor Jordan (BUFFALO SOLDIERS) to rewrite and direct the adaptation of John Christopher's THE TRIPODS TRILOGY, reports VARIETY. Disney has had the properties rights since 1997 and both Darren Lemke and Terry Hayes have written scripts based on the series.

Intergraph Corp. has shipped SmartPlant 3D 5.0. The new version delivers many enhancements for structural modeling and design, 3D model exportation, global worksharing and system support. Intergraph's current customers, including some of the world's largest owner/operators and engineering companies, drove the development of SmartPlant 3D 5.0. The software provides the capabilities needed to design and maintain process, power and marine facilities and keep them "as-built" throughout the life cycle.

The SIGGRAPH 2004 Conference on Computer Graphics and Interactive Techniques Presentations DVD-ROM set is now shipping. This highly anticipated six-disc box set features more than 400 presentations totaling more than 250 hours of content. Recorded sessions include: Papers, Sketches, Courses, Special Sessions, Web Graphics, Panels and Keynote and Awards. New features include: a custom search engine, links to additional online research and all live demos. For more information, visit www.siggraph.org/soma/s2004dvd/.

German director Roland Emmerich will be president of the international jury for the 2005 Berlin International Film Festival. Emmerich is best known for his blockbusters INDEPENDENCE DAY, GODZILLA and THE DAY AFTER TOMORROW.

In other vfx and animation news from the festival, THE LIFE AQUATIC WITH STEVE ZISSOU will compete in the official competition. The 55th Berlin International Film Festival runs Feb. 10-20.