Universal Pictures has acquired Seth MacFarlane's Ted, an R-rated comedy that will mark the feature directorial debut of the "Family Guy" creator, reports Deadline New York.
Carrying a budget of $65 million, the Media Rights Capital project is described as a "'Hard R' comedy about a man and his teddy bear" and will mix live action and CG, according to the site.
MacFarlane will also co-star and provide the voice for the CG-generated title character. MacFarlane wrote the script with "Family Guy's" Alec Sulkin and Wellesley Wild.
MacFarlane is expected to work the film around his duties on "Family Guy," "The Cleveland Show" and "American Dad!" for Fox.
Microsoft Plans Project Natal 'World Premiere' This June by Chris Remo
A year after it was first announced, Microsoft will fully unveil its Project Natal motion-sensing device for Xbox 360 this June during the E3 Expo in Los Angeles.
Microsoft is calling the event the "World Premiere" of its device, and is likely to roll out the first round of Natal games, a price range for the peripheral, and possibly a final name, as Sony did during its
This is probably the most interesting and soon-to-be the most controversial news you'll hear all month (I'm sure someone will be pissed by this). SlashFilm is reporting that they've confirmed with multiple sources that a rumor about the Green Lantern costume being entirely CGI in the movie is true. Apparently Ryan Reynolds has been wearing a grey motion capture site with white LED lights, similar to how Dr. Manhattan looked on set during Watchmen. Before everyone goes crazy and boycotts the entire movie, apparently the reason for doing this (without actually seeing any finished photos to prove it) is actually pretty damn good.
The story is that costume designer Ngila Dickson (The Last Samurai, Lord of the Rings, Blood Diamond) was challenged with finding a way to create a costume that "stands apart from all of the other superheroes spandex suit designs we’ve seen in the past." And considering that the Green Lantern outfit comes from the alien ring (given to him by Abin Sur), it needs to look "other worldly." It was Ngila's chance to do something different and also allow Hal Jordan to "change into the suit multiple times in mid-scene" which just sounds pretty damn cool if they'll be able to pull that off smoothly with CGI. So far, so good, no reason to complain.
So if we won't see Reynolds wearing spandex on set, the next big question is how will the design look in its finished form on the big screen. Peter from SlashFilm is a bit vague on that, too: "I've heard that when the CG is complete, the suit will look like a manifestation of his power." Will it glow or will it look differently in different situations (again, similar to how Dr. Manhattan controlled his brightness)? We don't know the answers to these questions yet, but the good news is that apparently DC's Geoff Johns (the same guy) has seen the designs and given them his blessings. Doesn't seem like there is anything to be concerned about.
Green Lantern has been filming down in Louisiana for the past few weeks and I've heard nothing but great things so far. I'm not concerned about a CGI costume, in fact, I'm intrigued to see what it will look like. I think this will open up many possibilities for costuming that would've been impossible to pull off practically, since this is a super-powered ring that can manifest anything after all.
Robert Zemeckis is set to direct the underwater adventure thriller "Dark Life" for Disney Pictures and his own ImageMovers company says Variety.
Based on the novel by Kat Falls, the story is set in a post-apocalyptic future where the oceans have risen and human civilisation packs the few regions of dry land left. As a result, the deep-sea environment has become like a Wild West with underwater pioneers carving out a life for themselves.
The story follows a young underwater farmer who joins with a girl from top side who is trying to find her missing prospector brother. Together they try and stop outlaws attacking Government supply ships and settlements.
Robert Zemeckis, Jack Rapke, Steve Starkey, Ellen Goldsmith-Vein and Lee Stollman will produce. It's not sure if the film will be live-action or the performance-capture style of Zemeckis' recent work.
Cassette Playa brings augmented reality to the catwalk of the London Fashion Show
It's not unusual to see some bizarre and extraordinary creations at the London Fashion Show and this year Cassette Playa continued this fine tradition with a live augmented reality catwalk performance. CGI animations on screens behind the models on the catwalk were triggered by different symbols on the clothing being shown, transporting the audience into a rich, colorful digital world where the boundaries separating reality and the virtual are blurred.
With 3D animation "softwear" development provided courtesy of Philip Delamore, David Sweeney and Peter Hill of the London College of Fashion and funding from the London Development Agency, Cassette Playa managed to successfully merge the real world and a virtual digital landscape into one bold colorful creation in a show that saw augmented reality used for the first time in the world of fashion.
As the models stood in front of a camera, the symbol on the clothing activated the animation on the screen. The model was subsequently stripped of facial features, enclosed in bizarre headgear or surrounded by dancing figures straight out of the introduction to "Tales of the Unexpected" in a mix of the medieval and industrial as determined by the software.
The designers are looking to make the AR softwear available when buying an augmented garment so that customers can enjoy a tailored virtual experience in front of their computer or laptop webcam.
Disney will be spending quite a bit of time on Mars in the coming years. We've been hearing for a while now about the Willem Dafoe vehicle John Carter of Mars, which pits a Civil War veteran against 12-foot-tall giants, and now they've announced a release date for Mars Needs Moms, about a boy who travels to Mars to rescue his kidnapped mother.
We knew the film was in the works over a year ago, but now per Variety, the Mouse House has announced a release date. The first of its Martian riddled films, Mom, on March 11, 2011, which will be about a year before John Carter. The film will be put together much in the same vein as The Polar Express, which predictable as it's being produced by Forrest Gump director Robert Zemeckis
