Taken from Variety:

“First up from the film division of the Marvel comicbook giant is an “Iron Man” sequel aimed to bow on April 30, 2010, planting the flag again on the start of the summer movie sesh.

Also for that year, Marvel plans to bow “Thor” on June 4, based on the Norse god who wields a giant hammer. Matthew Vaughn is set to helm.

In 2011, company will unspool “The First Avenger: Captain America” on May 6; and “The Avengers,” which will team up the Iron Man, Incredible Hulk, Captain America and Thor characters, in July. Zak Penn is writing the latter.

Paramount will distrib all the pics, as part of its pact with Marvel.”

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Fox, Warner Bros., Paramount, Sony, and Universal are all going to join up to where Disney has been for months. All the major studios will be “making all their new releases available through the iTunes Store… from the moment their DVD and Blu-ray counterparts hit store shelves.”

I had mentioned earlier that Fox and Paramount were already experimenting with iTunes sales and all the studios had jumped on-board back in January with the movie rental scheme Apple has put forth. This will be a big step forward to help invigorate the sagging DVD market.

New release downloads will cost $14.99 and catalog downloads will run for $9.99.

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This is a blatant copy from Variety  but I thought with our name coming from a Pixar movie and all I would post the highlights of the Pixar and Disney animation release schedule through the next few years. I’m most looking forward to the long awaited “Rapunzel” as it had beautiful concept art released over a year ago, as well as “Wall-E” which is said to be an extremely new direction for the leaders in animation at Pixar. Unfortunately, Brad Bird doesn’t have anything coming for another year, and it isn’t animated.

 

 

• “Up,” set for release May 29, 2009, will be Pixar’s first 3-D title, and thereafter every Pixar toon will be produced in 3-D. Disney has been an early proponent of the format, starting with 2005′s “Chicken Little,” and all its own toons going forward will use the format as well. Lasseter noted he is such a fan that his wedding pictures were done in 3-D. Along with its new pics, Disney is also releasing Pixar classics “Toy Story” and “Toy Story 2″ in digital 3-D in 2009 and 2010, respectively.

• Larry the Cable Guy, who voiced Mater in “Cars,” took the stage to announce that “Cars 2″ is going into production, with a planned release date of summer 2012. It’s being directed by “Ratatouille” producer Brad Lewis and is the first sequel for Pixar outside the “Toy Story” franchise. Though “Cars” didn’t do as well at the box office as some other Pixar titles, it has been a licensing bonanza for the Mouse House.

• Miley Cyrus will be a lead voice opposite John Travolta in Thanksgiving’s “Bolt,” formerly titled “American Dog.” About 15 minutes of footage of the pic screened to some of the heartiest applause of the day.

• “Toy Story 3″ will be released June 18, 2010. Plot details for the third part remain under wraps, though the filmmakers said it begins with Andy (owner of Woody and Buzz) about to head off to college. A Ken doll will be the franchise’s newest toy. 

• Anchoring the Disney side of things is the hand-drawn musical “The Princess and the Frog,” from “Aladdin”and “Little Mermaid” helmers John Musker and Ron Clements, who were lured back to Disney by Lasseter. It’s set for a Christmas 2009 release. Stills were shown, and star Anika Noni Rose performed a song live, as didRandy Newman and his eight-piece New Orleans combo.

 

• Disney’s long-in-development CG version of “Rapunzel” finally has a release date: Christmas 2010. It’s directed by studio vet Glen Keane and Dean Wellins.

• Pixar will have two original films in 2011: “Newt,” a romantic comedy directed by Oscar-winning sound designer Gary Rydstrom, and “The Bear and the Bow,” a magical tale set in Scotland and helmed by Brenda Chapman, who previously directed “The Prince of Egypt” for DreamWorks. The first Pixar feature from a femme helmer will star the voices of Reese Witherspoon, Billy Connolly and Emma Thompson.
• Last release on the slate for Disney Animation Studios is Christmas 2012′s “King of the Elves,” directed byAaron Blaise and Robert Walker, based on the short story by sci-fi scribe Dick.

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Paramount Pictures has released thousands of video clips from their film library for use inside the virtual 3-D online world of there.com. Members of the site will be able to buy clips for about $1 to add to their avatars’ as a way to represent themselves further. The clips are composed of one liners from such films as ‘Clueless’ and ‘Beverly Hills Cop’. The days of simply sending :( to someone is over when you can have Cher Horowitz saying “as if” to you instead. Ahh, it’s good to see Paramount opening up it’s vault and allowing its content to be used in such a creative and productive fashion.

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One of the best directors of this generation, and possibly my favorite, passed away Monday 0500 GMT.

Anthony Minghella died yesterday, a week after having removed a growth from his neck that led to a fatal brain hemorrhage, he was only 54.

Former British P.M. Tony Blair described Minghella as “a wonderful human being, creative and brilliant, but still humble, gentle and a joy to be with.”

While I’ve never met Minghella personally I could only imagine that the director of ‘Cold Mountain’, ‘The Talented Mr. Ripley’ and, 9 time Academy Award winner ‘The English Patient’ would be described simply as brilliant.

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Actor in a Leading Role:

George Clooney: Michael Clayton

Daniel Day-Lewis: There will be Blood

Johnny Depp: Sweeney Todd the Demon Barber of Fleet Street

Tommy Lee Jones: In the Valley of Elah

Viggo Mortensen: Eastern Promises

Actor in a Supporting Role:

Casey Affleck: The assassination of Jesse James by the Coward
Robert Ford

Javier Bardem: No Country for Old Men

Philip Seymour Hoffman: Charlie Wilson’s War

Hal Holbrook: Into the Wild

Tom Wilkinsons: Michael Clayton

Actress in a Leading Role:

Cate Blanchett: Elizabeth: The Golden Age

Julie Christie: Away from Her

Marion Cotillard: La Vie en Rose

Laura Linney: The Savages

Ellen Page: Juno

Actress in a Supporting Role:

Cate Blancett: I’m Not There

Ruby Dee: American Gangster

Saoirse Ronan: Atonement

Amy Ryan: Gone Baby Gone

Tilda Swinton: Michael Clayton

Animated Feature Film:

Persepolis

Ratatouille

Surf’s Up

Art Direction:

American Gangster

Atonement

The Golden Compass

Sweeney Todd the Demon Barber of Fleet Street

There will be Blood

Cinematography:

The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford

Atonement

The Diving Bell and the Butterfly

No Country for Old Men

There will be Blood

Costume Design:

Across the Universe

Atonement

Elizabeth: The Golden Age

La Vie en Rose

Sweeney Todd the Demon Barber of Fleet Street

Documentary Feature:

No End in Sight

Operation Homecoming: Writing the Wartime Experience

Sicko

Taxi to the Dark Side

War/Dance

Documentary Short:

Freeheld

La Corona (The Crown)

Salim Baba

Sari’s Mother

Film Editing:

The Bourne Ultimatum

The Diving Bell and the Butterfly

Into the Wild

No Country for Old Men

There will be Blood

Foreign Language Film:

Beaufort

The Counterfeiters

Katyn

Mongol

12

Makeup:

La Vie en Rose

Norbit

Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End

Music (Score):

Atonement

The Kite Runner

Michael Clayton

Ratatouille

3:10 to Yuma

Music (Song):

Once- “Falling Slowly”

Enchanted- “Hapy Working Song”

August Rush- “Raise it Up”

Enchanted- “So Close”

Enchanted – “That’s How You Know”

Short Film (Animated):

I Met the Walrus

Madame Tutli-Putli

Meme Les Pigeons Vont au Paradis (Even Pigeons go to Heaven)

My Love (Moyo Lyubov)

Peter & the Wolf

 

Short Film (Live Action):

At Night

Il Supplente (The Substitute)

Le Mozart Des Pickpockets (The Mozart of Pickpockets)

Tanghi Argentini

The Tonto Woman

Sound Editing:

The Bourne Ultimatum

No Country for Old Men

Ratatouille

There will be Blood

Transformers

Sound Mixing:

The Bourne Ultimatum

No Country for Old Men

Ratatouille

3:10 to Yuma

Transformers

Visual Effects:

The Golden Compass

Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End

Transformers

Writing (Adapted Screenplay):

Atonement

Away from Her

The Diving Bell and the Butterfly

No Country for Old Men

There will be Blood

Writing (Original Screenplay):

Juno

Lars and the Real Girl

Michael Clayton

Ratatouille

The Savages

Directing:

The Diving Bell and the Butterfly

Juno

Michael Clayton

No Country for Old Men

There will be Blood

Best Picture:

Atonement

Juno

Michael Clayton

No Country for Old Men

There will be Blood

 

 

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Joining the group Disney has announced plans with National CinemEdia’s FirstLook to deliver ads for children’s DVDs to theaters owned by AMC, Cinemark, and Regal. The ads will be part of the ad clusters that run before the previews and only play before G and PG rated films. If these DVD campaigns prove successful we could see a special section of ads saying ‘Coming soon to DVD’ before you even get to the ’Coming Soon to a Theater Near You’ section.

For years theaters have been an untapped resource for captive audiences. Going to the movie you are faced with the dilemma of showing up early to get the good seat only to be forced to watch commercials while listening to American Idol winners sing in between Coke radio spots or sit in the front row. Not only that but as the house lights dim we have been forced to sit through another 7 minutes of commercials before previews start. MovieTickets.com even states “Feature Presentations Start 10-15 Minutes Following Published Showtimes”.  While I have always considered other movie previews to be part of the theater-going experience, I have become disenchanted by the quantity of recycled ads I must suffer through before the previews even start.

This move might make sense for Disney, and as a shareholder I’m for it, but as a film-goer I’m disgusted by the onslaught of ads I am forced to watching. So, for now I’ll take that 15 minutes to enjoy one more drink before the movie, sit in the front row, and stop complaining.

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Here is the new trailer for Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull which will be in theaters May 22nd. Give it a few seconds to load and enjoy :-)

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After 100 days the Writers Guild strike is over! 92.5% of the ballots cast were in favor of ending the strike and 283 votes of the 3,775 were in favor of continuing to picket and hold out for more.

The informal negotiations that finally broke the impasse is largely creditedto News Corp.’s Peter Chernin and Walt Disney Co. CEO Robert Iger who stepped in only a month ago when the talks had come to a stand still. While their end goal was the same both companies had different reasons for reaching them. Disney owned ABC struggles without new content and Fox relies heavily on its motion picture group to succeed.

It looks like new episodes will start to come back in late March early April and the shows will be able to go on as scheduled, just shy of a full season (roughly 24 episodes). Already Disney has renewed nine shows for next year and no word as of now whether or not the regular season might head into the early summer months.

So, welcome back writers, and everyone else who has been displaced by the strike. Let’s get countless movies and TV shows up and running again and hopefully take away some of the reality programming that has been crowding the program schedules for the last few weeks.

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The Los Angeles Times is reporting that Hewlett-Packard has signed a deal with Sony Pictures that will allow customers to request DVDs from the studio’s library. This will primarily benefit  those looking for the rare and obscure film that can’t be found at your local Best Buy.

 Jason Spivak, head of strategic development at SonyHE told the Times “We’re hoping this provides another option to make available products that wouldn’t necessarily garner widespread retail shelf space.” This goes along with the fact that HP is hoping to sign similar deals elsewhere, “if studios can sell more catalog than previously, they can generate more money.” That’s the key to getting others to join up. If Sony is successful then other studios could follow along making that obscure copy of North more accessible.

This development is one of many recent that allows more consumer control over the content they are able to access. Sales would most likely fall under the same revenue sharing as regular DVD sales made online by companies such as amazon or barnesandnoble.com but it only further blurs the line of internet revenue and traditional sources that the WGA and others have been fighting hard to get more revenues from. With the age of unlimited on-demand access to all forms of content emerging, deals like this one where the tech company becomes the middle-man are going to be more common than ever before.

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