Variety has an exclusive story on Nicolas Marlet, the sole character designer for Dreamworks’ newest animated feature film to be released next week, “Kung Fu Panda”. Since animation is such a collaborative process, rarely do you see only one designer’s style on the screen.

For DreamWorks, the closest precedent was “Madagascar,” on which Craig Kellman created the majority of the toon’s incredibly stylized characters. “That really opened the doors for ‘Kung Fu Panda’ to follow one shape language,” [production designer Raymond] Zibach says. “Nico does these amazing pages where he has 20 or 30 characters on one page and you’re ready to make that movie, they’re so charming.”

The article is a nice read, but take a look at the gorgeous samples of Nico’s designs in this link here.
Marlet has previously worked on Dreamworks films designing characters in the “Road to El Dorado”, “Sinbad”, and “Over the Hedge”.

Empire Online reports that the 90’s goth icon Emily the Strange will be making her filmic debut. Emily was created by Rob Reger as a character to plaster on purses, shirts, or anything else a goth girl would want to buy. She became so popular that she ended up getting a series of comic books created based on her adventures.

After a stalled 2005 attempt by 20th Century Fox to bring her animated adventures to screens, she’s now being resurrected.

The new movie version, which may be live-action, animated or both, will be produced by Mike Richardson (producer on Hellboy II and also president of Dark Horse Comics, who publish the Emily series), and will be based on an upcoming Emily novel that will be published next year. New characters in the film will include Earwig, Umlaut, McFreeley and Officer Summers.

Hollywood Reporter says that Disney is now seeing a potential for movie development in graphic novels. They’re getting into the business by creating Kingdom Comics with a plan to adapt certain works into films. Disney signed a deal with Ahmet Zappa, exec Harris Katleman, and Christian Beranek (writer/editor) to oversee their new venture.

The studio will pluck titles, putting them into development on a case-by-case basis.

“Some of these exciting publications will be inspired by films and characters in the vast and storied Disney library, while other original graphic novels are sure to spark great ideas for future Disney classics,” studio president Oren Aviv said. “Our vision for Kingdom Comics is to bring a fresh, contemporary approach to Disney properties.”

The creation of Kingdom Comics positions the studio as a player in the scorching comic book scene. Many studios have aligned themselves to the big companies — Warner Bros. owns DC Comics, Marvel has a distribution deal with Paramount, Universal has a first-look deal with Dark Horse Comics — leaving very few players up for grabs. It also will put the company in business with established and untapped talent in what essentially will be a R&D division, letting it develop possible franchises in a way that will cost less than a low-end spec.

No writers or artists have yet been announced, but they are on the hunt for talent to create the books. Kingdom Comics will be located on the Disney lot with a first-look deal with Disney Publishing Worldwide to distribute.

The Hollywood Reporter writes that after working late into Tuesday night, AFTRA reached a tentative deal Wed. morning with the Alliance of Motion Pictures and Television Producers for a three year primetime TV contract.

Included in the deal is the continued consent of using actors clips outside the scope of promotional use, an issue that was a major stumbling block for both sides during the negotiations, which started May 7.

In the area of new media, AFTRA struck a similar deal to the WGA and DGA contracts but left by the wayside its attempts, like the other unions, to get increases in the DVD area.

The contract covers a dozen shows in primetime and cable, including “Curb Your Enthusiasm,” “Flight of the Conchords” and “Rules of Engagement,” and must be approved by AFTRA’s national board and ratified by its members before taking effect. The current contract expires June 30.

The tentative agreement includes establishing jurisdiction over programs produced for distribution on the Internet and in new media as well as creating a new residual structure for paid Internet downloads which AFTRA says significantly increases the current rates and establishes a residual platform for ad-supported streaming and use of clips on the web.

Animation Magazine’s Ryan Ball has an article about the new movie in the Terminator franchise, “Terminator Salavation: The Future Begins”. Apparently, Warner Brothers just began principal shooting in Albuquerque, New Mexico this past week. The film stars Christian Bale and Sam Worthington and is directed by McG (We Are Marshall, Charlie’s Angels).

Terminator Salvation: The Future Begins will be the first film in a new trilogy and Bale has reportedly signed on to star in all three. The flick is scheduled for a North American theatrical release May 22, 2009. Warner Bros. Pictures is handling all U.S. and Canadian distribution rights.

Variety says the fourth film in the Indiana Jones franchise opened this past weekend to become the second biggest domestic Memorial Day opening on record (behind last year’s “Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End”). Indy raked in a cool $126 million over the weekend at U.S. theaters, with a combined $311.1 million worldwide.

“Crystal Skull” opened Thursday; its five-day domestic haul clocked in at an estimated $151.1 million, according to Rentrak.

Overseas, where it began rolling out Wednesday, “Crystal Skull” grossed $160 million through Monday. The weekend international take (through Sunday) of $146 million reps the fifth best international opening of all time.

“Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian” held on at number 2, but had a sharp decline in numbers at $28.6 million. Iron Man continued it’s steady reign to gain $25.6 million over the long weekend at number 3.

DMN Newswire–2008-5-26–ADELAIDE, Australia, 26th May 2008:  RSR, the company behind the world leading post production workflow tools cineSync and cineSpace, today announce the full release of cineSync Pro - the ultimate  synchronised review and approval solution.

Expanding on the hugely successful and widely adopted cineSync, cineSync Pro takes interactive, real time reviews to another level and is fast becoming an essential part of production and post production pipelines the world over. 

Available now, cineSync Pro has been developed in response to the needs of VFX, animation, film production, network television and DI facilities - facilities that deal with a large volume ofmedia across multiple locations and which require a level of interactivity not available in existing media review tools. Available on Windows, OSX and Linux, cineSync Pro is also designed to be deployed as an internal review tool, streamlining project management workflows.

cineSync Pro is designed to provide absolute “visual context”, removing all potential for confusion or misinterpretation, by ensuring that everyone in the review and approval process sees exactly the same thing at the same time.

Features of cineSync Pro include the ability to play stereoscopic material, to apply 3D colour look-up tables (LUTs) to loaded movies and still images and to display in full screen on a monitor or projector. With cineSync Pro you are now able to adjust colour, brightness, gamma, saturation and contrast, zoom and pan to specific ares of interest, apply hard and soft masks and modify stereo convergence, all in total synchronisation with everyone else in the review - no matter where they are in the world.

“cineSync Pro represents an exciting step forward in the evolution of cineSync” says Clint Walker, RSR CEO. “For the customers that demand the highest level of quality and speed in the review sessions, while still maintaining a simplicity and ease of use, cineSync Pro stands head and shoulders above any other product in the market. We are very excited to be working with our valued clients to push cineSync Pro even further and look forward to some very exciting developments in the near future”.

For more information, visit the official website of cineSync Pro at <www.cinesync.com/pro> or contact Product Manager Rory McGregor on +61 8 8400 6475 (Australia) or at rory.mcgregor@rsrhq.com.

“Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull” is poised to become the 2nd largest opening for a Memorial Day weekend, with an estimated four-day gross of $126 million from 4,260 screens acording to Variety.

Including Thursday’s haul, “Crystal Skull’s” five-day opening gross looks to nab a hefty $151 million, according to Paramount, which is distributing the film for George Lucas‘ LucasFilms.

“Crystal Skull’s” strong box office debut marks a triumphant return for the action-adventure franchise.

Tentpole stars Harrison Ford, Cate Blanchett, Shia LaBeouf, Karen Allen and Ray Winstone.

Disney’s “Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End” opened last year at the same time and continues to hold the record for best Memorial Day opener, grossing $139.8 million for the four-day holiday.

“Crystal Skull” was able to edge out 20th Century Fox’s “X Men: The Last Stand,” which posted a four-day Memorial Day gross of $122.8 million in 2006.

Elsewhere at the Memorial Day box office, Disney holdover “Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian” placed No. 2, declining an estimated 58.2% in its second frame for a Friday-to-Sunday cume of $23 million from 3,929 runs for a cume of $91 million in the sequel’s first 10 days. Disney won’t release Monday box office estimates until Monday.

Par’s “Iron Man’ continued to impress in its fourth frame, declining just 37% for a Friday-to-Sunday total of $20.1 million for a new cume of $257.8 million.

As with “Prince Caspian,” Par only provided weekend box office estimates for “Iron Man.“

Twentieth Century Fox’s “What Happens in Vegas” came in No. 4 at the Memorial Day box office, declining only 35% in its third frame to an estimated $9 million from 3,1888 runs for a cume of $54.2 million.

Fox will provide Monday box office results on Monday.

Warner Bros.’ “Speed Racer” placed No. 5 for the weekend, declining an estimated 51% in its third frame to $4 million for a new cume of $36.2 million through Sunday.

Variety reports that games giant Electronic Arts has purchased the Korean subsidiary or San Fransisco based Hands on Mobile.

Best known for its mobile role-playing game, Heroes Lore. the former Hands-On Mobile Korea team will become EA Mobile Korea and will play a central role in the development of EA Mobile Asia. Gilbert Kim, CEO of Hands-On Mobile Korea will become head of EA Mobile Korea.

Deal terms were not disclosed and takeover is expected to complete by the end of June.

“Hands-On Mobile Korea brings us a great leadership team, proven studio talent, and outstanding carrier and OEM handset manufacturer relationships,” Barry Cottle, Senior VP and General Manager EA Mobile, said. “This acquisition is a major milestone in growing our mobile business in Asia.”

“We are excited about joining EA Mobile and its mission to bring to market some of the world’s most innovative, cutting-edge and commercially proven mobile games and applications. Korea is one of the most ubiquitous entertainment markets in the world,” Kim said.

“Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull” showed a a domestic gross of nearly $25 million dollars from 4,260 theaters on Thursday, according to Variety.

Looking to take advantage of the long Memorial Day holiday, Paramount decided to unspool the tentpole one day early and go out on Thursday, meaning a five-day opening. Par is distributing the film — which opened day-and-date around the globe — on behalf of George Lucas‘ Lucasfilm. 

Toplining Harrison Ford, “Crystal Skull” marks the return of Spielberg’s classic action-adventure franchise to the bigscreen after nearly 20 years. Film has been tracking strongly, particularly among older adults. 

This was the 4th best Thursday opening ever, following “Star Wars:Episode III”, ” The Matrix Reloaded”, and “Star Wars:Episode II”.