According to Variety, TOY STORY 3 is now the highest-grossing animated feature, a spot that was recently held by DreamWorks SHREK 2. Now in its 9th week, TOY STORY 3 has pulled in $980.1 million total and now is looking toward the $1 billion mark. The Disney/Pixar feature is still climbing up the gross-ladder and is currently ranked as the ninth highest grossing film of all time.
IMDB states that the top ten top grossing films are as follows:
1. AVATAR (2009)
2. TITANIC (1997)
3. THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE RETURN OF THE KING (2003)
4. PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: DEAD MAN’S CHEST (2006)
5. ALICE IN WONDERLAND (2010)
6. THE DARK KNIGHT (2008)
7. HARRY POTTER AND THE SORCERER’S STONE (2001)
8. PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: AT WORLD’S END (2007)
9. TOY STORY 3 (2010)
10. HARRY POTTER AND THE ORDER OF THE PHOENIX (2007)
Animation Magazine reports that Universal’s new feature DESPICABLE ME will have its world premiere at the Los Angeles Film Festival.
Directed by Chris Renaud and Pierre Coffin, DESPICABLE ME tells the story of Gru a super-villian with his share of super problems, including bumbling henchmen, an arch-nemisis, and a less than stellar crime rate. But his life is about to include 3 more problems, Margo, Edith, and Agnes. This film features a large crew of voice talent which includes Steve Carell, Jason Segel, Will Arnett, Kristen Wiig, Russel Brand and Julie Andrews.
DESPICABLE ME will be closing the festival on June 27th and will hit theaters on July9th.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, DreamWorks latest feature HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON has done well enough to hatch its own franchise. In a conference call, DreamWorks CEO Jeffrey Katzenberg announced that the pic will be back to theaters as a sequel in 2013.
“It’s not where you start, it’s where you finish,” Katzenberg told analysts about “Dragon” during a conference call to discuss quarterly earnings.
In addition to a 2nd HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON, an online virtual world, a TV show, and a live area show are in the works. Katzenberg also talked up the upcoming MEGAMIND, SCARED SHREKLESS - the next installment of the Shrek franchise, and a PANDA special coming out during the holidays.
According to Animation Magazine, Charlie Brown, Snoopy, Linus and the gang are heading over to fashion brand company, Iconix. Iconix Brand Company teamed up with the family of PEANUTS creator Charles Schulz to purchase the rights to the comic characters and the United Media Licensing business for $175 million.
“Owning the Peanuts business moves Iconix well beyond fashion into a true global brand management entity with a wide variety of agreements that range from theme parks to media to financial institutions,” says Neil Cole, chairman and CEO of Iconix Brand Group. “Further, we believe Peanuts’ large global footprint and broad licensing relationships will also open up new doors for our existing portfolio of brands and future acquisitions. We are equally excited to have the Schulz family as our partners and believe their passion and insight will be invaluable to the future success of the Peanuts brand.”
PEANUTS has been a part of United Media since its creation in 1950. Though Iconix is wanting to use the PEANUTS characters for more than fasion, you know that Snoopy jeans are not that far away. The nerd in me knows I will be first in line for a “Good Grief!” or “The Doctor is In” t-shirt.
According to Animation Magazine, a new exhibit showcasing the life and work of animation virtuoso Check Jones is opening at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. “Chuck Jones: An Animator’s Life From A to Z-Z-Z-Z” will feature a plethora of drawings, cels, storyboards and other Jones animation goodies.
Jones is mostly known for his work on Warner Brothers shorts, creating many beloved characters. However he also worked on many other projects such as his classical retelling of the works of Rudyard Kipling, George Selden, and Dr. Suess. The art for the was put together from the Chuck Jones collection at Warner Bros. and the Chuck Jones Center for Creativity.
The show will be held from May 14th to August 22 at the Academy’s Beverly Hills building, 8949 Wilshire Blvd.For more information visit www.oscars.org.
According to Variety, Fox Animation and Blue Sky has landed actor and R&B artist Jamie Foxx to star in the new feature WELCOME TO THE JUNGLE. This is not much of a surprise since the feature is the pitch presented by Foxx and Malcolm Spellman. Foxx is also stepping into the role as producer in his maiden voyage into animation.
Foxx is also expected to also write the music for JUNGLE, as Spellman pens the script. Though the story is stull hush-hush, Spellman says,
“I’m psyched about ‘Welcome to the Jungle’ because it’s specifically built to utilize Jamie’s talent with voices and as a musician,” Spellman said.
WECOME TO THE JUNGLE is still in preliminary planning and a release date is not available. However, Fox Animation and Blue Sky’s feature RIO is due in theaters April 2011.
310 Studios the post house known for such animated titles as “Bionicle Mask of Light” , “Bionicle 2″ , “Bionicle 3″, and “The Legend of Secret Pass” has today announced that they have launched www.310digital.tv. 310 Digital is the new live production arm of 310 Studios and Features a brand new 29ft
high definition Production/Editing truck servicing the South West of the United States.
310 Studios Will be Debuting the truck at NAB this year at Booth OE1738 along with there partners at Metro Video Systems. The truck has already worked events such as the “Le Réve” Show at the Wynn in Vegas and a 3 hour live special for Wayne Gretzky’s Fantasy Hockey Camp that was simulcast on NHL Network and SiriusXM Satellite radio.
Don’t let the picture fool you, according to FirstShowing.net, the powers that be over at Disney have renamed their upcoming animated feature from RAPUNZEL to TANGLED. In this film Disney returns to their foray into 3D but with a very 2d, painterly design aesthetic spearheaded by animation maestro Glen Keane. Unfortunately , Keane and Dean Wellins, who were called on board to develop and direct had to step down from that position in October of 08. Byron Howard and Nathan Greno of BOLT stepped in to see the film to completion.
According to Blue Sky Disney, the name change was warranted by a new look at marketing. Disney is not lightly going to give up the extremely lucrative “Princess”, but don’t want to lose viewers do to hyped “girlie-ness.”
They (meaning the execs and John Lasseter and so on) think that boys don’t want to go see “girlie” movies and Rapunzel is instantly perceived as female because it’s a story about a girl with the long hair. So by changing the name they give it some new life. Apparently it’s not that girlie of a story either, so boys will still enjoy it. Other title considerations include the original Unbraided and The Thief in the Tower, too.
No matter what the name, TANGLED seems to be shaping up as beautifully rich and lavish film. We will see if the story stands up to the hype or if the story just lives up to its name.
Well, the nominations are our and speculation is buzzing as awards season is well on it’s way. In the world of animation there were several shake ups to the nominations. First is the Best Picture Nomination for Pixar’s UP, the first time an animated feature has been nominated for this category since Disney’s BEAUTY AND THE BEAST in 1991. Like BEAUTY AND THE BEAST, UP is proving the worth of the animation form in a live-action dominated world. Since then the Academy instituted a new category just for animated features in 2001. The second is that the Irish underdog THE SECRET OF KELLS made the nomination over other films such as CLOUDY WITH A CHANCE OF MEATBALLS, 9, and PONYO ON A CLIFF BY THE SEA. KELLS may not have been mainstream in the US, but had enough delightful story and a beautifully crafted look that caught the judges eye and imagination. According to Animation Magazine the final list of nominations for Best Animated Feature are:
• “Coraline” Henry Selick
• “Fantastic Mr. Fox” Wes Anderson
• “The Princess and the Frog” John Musker and Ron Clements
• “The Secret of Kells” Tomm Moore
• “Up” Pete Docter
Of the nominations for Best Animated Short, the big surprise is that Pixar’s PARTLY CLOUDY didn’t make the list. Pixar has been a main contender in this category since 2001, bringing home the award for FOR THE BIRDS in 2001. Instead most eyes have been on the short film by Fabrice Joubert, FRENCH ROAST. This simple yet captivating story has been traveling around the festival circuit and winning quite a few awards already. The nominations for Best Animated Short are:
• “French Roast” Fabrice O. Joubert
• “Granny O’Grimm’s Sleeping Beauty” Nicky Phelan and Darragh O’Connell
• “The Lady and the Reaper (La Dama y la Muerte)” Javier Recio Garcia
• “Logorama” Nicolas Schmerkin
• “A Matter of Loaf and Death” Nick Park
Earlier we reported that THE PRINCESS AND THE FROG barely squeaked by the prelim-nominations for Best Score. However, they didn’t make it to the primaries; instead FROG has two nominations for Best Song including DOWN IN NEW ORLEANS and ALMOST THERE.
According to Variety, James Cameron’s sci-fi opus AVATAR has broke the $1 billion mark world wide. This alien Romeo and Juliet story has pulled in a total of $1.4 billion total, $480 million of that being domestic and including a wildly popular $40 million opening in China.
Part of the success of AVATAR is that you just can’t get away from it. The film is offered in all ways one can see a movie; regular, 3D, or supersized Imax. And it has been in theaters since December 18th and still has another 7 weeks showing in Imax theaters.
Imax CEO Richard Gelfond expects the record boxoffice from “Avatar 3D” to spur return viewing for future Hollywood 3D titles on his screens locally and internationally.
“There will be an ‘Avatar’ halo. Some people went to an Imax theater for the first time to see ‘Avatar.’ Many liked the experience, and will come back again,” he said.
This repeat business is good news for James Cameron. His last big hit TITANIC is the world record holder of the highest foreign grossing movie of all time at $1.8 billion. At the rate it is going AVATAR looks like it will very likely top that, showing that Mr. Cameron can top himself.
