Animation Magazine reports that Sony’s new animated sitcom “Sit Down, Shut Up” is back in production after the writers walked out asking that they be granted a WGA contract.

Deadline Hollywood cites sources that say Sony lured most of the scribes back with bonuses including pay bumps of as much as $200,000. Two writers, Bill Oakley and Ken Keeler, are apparently the only holdouts. The show is back in production under the jurisdiction of IATSE Local 839, also known as the Animation Guild.

Initially the writers turned down the pay bump back in June, but agreed to return when they were offered “WGA-parity residual protections for themselves and future writers” on the show.

RottenTomatoes has posted some great exclusive Pixar articles in the past few days.  The first article, “The World of Wall-E”, talks in-depth with Andrew Stanton, David DeVan, and 6 other creators of the film.  Each person includes their take on why Wall-E is such an important film to Pixar, and the unique problems they had to solve by making a feature-length robot love story.

Today, RT posted an exclusive interview with Derek Thompson, story artist on Wall-E.  He shares some storyboards from the film, and explains the how the story department works at Pixar.

And if that’s not enough Pixar for you, check out RT’s photos of their Tour of Pixar Studios.

In the midst of the 2004 presidential election two brothers, Gregg and Evan Spiridellis, created a video called “This Land”, which featured disembodied heads of John Kerry and George W. Bush singing atop animated bodies. It soon went viral and launched the brother’s website JibJab.com. Since then, over 12 million people have downloaded their videos which range from greeting cards to other political videos. Now, the two are back again with a new video featuring Obama and McCain entitled “It’s Time for Some Campaigning”, a parody of Bob Dylan’s “The Times They Are A-Changin’”. Link to the Video

Source

Variety has begun reporting on Comic-Con ‘08 today.  They have an entire section of their online news dedicated to this year’s line-up of Hollywood celebs and artists who will be in attendance.  Current articles include one on Joss Whedon and a “made-for”web” musical, and another on the hype surrounding Frank Miller’s “Spirit”.  You can also browse through photos of Comic-Cons past.  Keep heading back for exclusive updates and images of this year’s spectacle.

Last night, Warner Bros premiered it’s summer blockbuster “The Dark Knight” at a fancy Manhattan premiere. This screening was the first large scale celebration of the film and the hard work put into it’s creation. But it also served another purpose: to test the potential of Heath Ledger winning an award come Oscar season, an accomplishment that is virtually unheard of for a summer blockbuster particularly a comic book movie. To this end, it seemed to be possible as several midscreening ovations were given for Ledger. With that a possibility and the fact that the film is poised to challenge the biggest opening in history, producers are finding it difficult to keep calm.

Said Legendary Pictures principal and financier/producer Thomas Tull: “I’d be lying if I said I didn’t get excited about all the feedback we’re getting.”

AWN reports that SEGA announced at E3 their new lineup of games which include some new stars as well as the return of SEGA icons like Sonic. They will be showcasing these titles at their booth #107, at the LA Convention Center for E3. The titles include:

• MADWORLD for the Wii– Releases March 2009

• Sonic the Hedgehog returns in Fall 2008 for two games SONIC CHRONICLES: THE DARK BROTHERHOOD (Nintendo DS) and SONIC UNLEASHED (PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, PlayStation 2, Wii).

• RPG thriller ALPHA PROTOCOL (PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Windows-based PC) releases February 2009

• Music/rhythm game SAMBA DE AMIGO (Wii exclusive) releases September 2008

• BAYONETTA, a new action game by Hideki Kamiya (PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360) releases 2009

• BLEACH: DARK SOULS (Nintendo DS exclusive) releases Fall 2008

• DINOSAUR KING (Nintendo DS exclusive) , based on CW 4Kids animated hit, releases Fall 2008

• EMPIRE: TOTAL WAR (Windows-based PC), a new game for the TOTAL WAR franchise releases February 2009

• Strategy game STORMRISE (PlayStation 3 system, Xbox 360 & Windows-based PC) — Releases 2009

• Action RPGs GOLDEN AXE: BEAST RIDER (PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360) and SPACE SIEGE (Windows) releasesin Aug./Sept. 2008

• Historical RPG VALKYRIA CHRONICLES (PlayStation 3 exclusive) releases November 2008

• YAKUZA 2 (PlayStation 2 exclusive) releases September 9, 2008

Variety reports that “HellBoy 2: “The Golden Army” decimated its competition over the weekend in domestic box office sales. It debuted at $35.9 million, while Eddie Muphy’s “Meet Dave” barely made over $5 million- the worst opening ever for the actor.

Landing somewhere in the middle was New Line and Walden Media’s 3-D action-adventure “Journey to the Center of the Earth,” which grossed an estimated $20.6 million from 2,811 runs in the widest test yet of digital 3-D fare. The lion’s share of the gross came from higher-priced 3-D tickets, according to distributor Warner Bros.

“HellBoy”’s sequel opened 12 million dollars higher than the original, and was able to beat out “Hancock” which led in sales over the 4th of July holiday. “Wall-E” came in at No. 4, while “Kung Fu Panda” which is still bringing in viewers, finally hit the $200 million mark.

Just days before it’s conference at E3 this Tuesday, Nintendo has announced a new addon to the Wii Remote that it will be debuting at the show. Dubbed the “Wii MotionPlug” accessory, it plugs into the bottom of the Wii Remote and provides

an unmatched level of precision and immersion.

Every slight movement players make with their wrist or arm is rendered identically in real time on the screen, providing a true 1:1 response in their game play.

More details on this accessory and other topics will be discussed this Tuesday at their E3 media briefing.

The Hollywood Reporter said that in the past couple of weeks executives from Warner Bros and from DC Comics have been meeting together to discuss new strategies for developing their films. Up until now, Warner Bros has been developing each film independently. However, due to Marvels success with “Iron Man” and “Incredible Hulk”, as well as the allusions to an “Avengers” movie present within both films, Warner Bros is rethinking it’s strategy. This new plan would include not only placing DC characters on a higher priority, but also have them developed with an overarching goal in mind. While no announcements have been made yet, they are anticipated  in the next couple of weeks.

AWN is reporting that Sony has signed a deal to handle domestic distribution for “Planet 51″, a CG animated film. The film is about an astronaut who

lands on Planet 51 thinking he is the first to ever step foot, but he discovers the planet is inhabited by little green people reliving the 1950s American ideal, complete with BBQ and white picket fences.

“Planet” got lost in the shuffle back in February when it was originally slated for distribution with New Line. When New Line merged with Warner Bros. the film was then going to be distributed under them in summer of 2009. However, when “Planet 51″’s producers wanted a November release for their film, that conflicted with Warner’s release of the 6th Harry Potter film, “Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince”. Warner Bros. dropped the movie, and Sony picked up the ball. “Planet 51″ will now be released under Sony’s TriStar Pictures. It stars the voices of Dwayne Johnson, Jessica Biel, Justin Long, Sean William Scott, Gary Oldman, and John Cleese.