Author: Ramin Zahed

Chinese Officials Deny a Ban on ‘Despicable Me 2'

Officials in China have denied that there is ban on Universal/Illumination’s hugely popular animated feature Despicable Me 2 in the country. Authorities say the reason the movie is not screening in China is because they believe it won’t perform well over there. The first Despicable Me feature also didn’t play in the country.

Sources have told The Hollywood Reporter the supervillain comedy pic had simply never been presented for release. China recently increased the number of foreign films which are allowed to screen each year from around 20 to 34. Among the many rumors circulating about the movie in China is that it failed to get a release because officials believed the Minions bore too much resemblance to Chinese leader Jiang Zemin.

A source at the State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television told The Hollywood Reporter the local agent Edko (Beijing) Films had simply decided that the movie would not fare well in China, and had therefore refused it one of the 34 spots. To date, Despicable Me 2 has made over $714.967 million worldwide ($328 million Stateside) and has emerged as one of Universal’s most profitable movies of all-time.

Despicable Me 2

August 6, 2013
Fox Orders More ‘Axe Cop,’ ‘High School USA!’

It looks like Fox is hungry for more of its new adult animated toons, Axe Cop and High School USA. The network has increased its orders for each show from the original six to 12 quarter-hour episodes. The shows scored over 1.5 million viewers during the new Animation Domination High Def block on Saturday, July 27.

“I thought to roll out 12 gives us a little more of an anchor,” Nick Weidenfeld, the network’s head of Animation Domination HD, told The Futon Critic. “We’re just starting. It’s also way better for production because we can get invested in those shows.”

In January, AC and HSUSA will be joined by Golan the Insatiable and Lucas Bros. Moving Co., with two additional unannounced series set to debut in April.

Axe Cop

High School USA!

August 6, 2013
Voices Announced for DreamWorks ‘B.O.O.,’ ‘Penguins’

There is a lot of news coming out of DreamWorks. We’re just happy that this one doesn’t have to do with the performances of Turbo or the company’s stocks or the departure of the studio’s well-liked marketing execs. The Wrap reports that Benedict Cumberbatch and John Malkovich are added to the voice cast of the upcoming feature Penguins of Madagascar.

Slated for a March 27, 2015 release, the movie is being directed by Bee Movie’s Simon J. Smith, from a script by Michael Colton and John Aboud. Malkovich will voice the Madagascar spinoff’s charming villain while Cumberbatch will play “a high-ranking animal CIA agent hot on his trail.”

The Wrap also announced yesterday that Matt Bomer (White Collar) and Rashida Jones (Parks and Recreation) have joined Seth Rogen and Melissa McCarthy as voice talent for June 2015’s pic, B.O.O.: Bureau of Otherworldly Operations. The 3-D CG movie is directed by Tony Leondis (Igor) and written by Tom Wheeler (Puss in Boots). It features Rogen and McCarthy as two ghosts who discover a plot from within their organization to take over the Earth. Jones will voice the ex-wife of Rogen’s character and Bomer will play her new husband.

(from left) Matt Bomer and John Malkovich

August 6, 2013
LEGO Plans a ‘Simpsons’ Line for 2014

As if you didn’t know already, Matt Groening’s long-running animated series The Simpsons will be entering its 25th Season next year. As part of the big quarter century celebration, LEGO has announced that it will introduce a new series based on the popular and dysfunctional denizens of Springfield.

Lego spokesman Roar Rude Trangbaek told the Associated Press that he hopes the series will “appeal to fans of the Simpsons family,” but didn’t reveal which characters will be part of the beloved Danish toy line.

LEGO has been experiencing a huge uptick in popularity these days, thanks to licensed versions of Star Wars, Marvel, DC Comics and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles characters. Warner Bros. is also betting on the appeal of the franchise when it releases The Lego Movie in February. The animated movie, directed by Phil Lord, Chris Miller and Chris Mckay, features the voices of Channing Tatum (Superman), Will Arnett (Batman), Elizabeth Banks, Cobie Smulders (Wonder Woman), Jonah Hill (Green Lantern), Morgan Freeman (Vitruvius), Liam Neeson (Bad Cop), Will Ferrell (President Biness), Chris Pratt (Emmet), Will Arnett (Batman).

LEGO Plans a Simpsons Line for 2014

August 6, 2013
David Levy Promoted to President of TBS

David Levy, Turner Broadcasting System’s president of sales, distribution and sports has been promoted to the president of the cabler as former chair and CEO Phil Kent prepares to leave his post. John Martin will take over as company CEO in January. Levy will oversee Turner’s domestic entertainment and animation & young adults networks, with Steve Koonin, president of Turner Entertainment Networks, and Stuart Snyder, president and chief operating officer of Turner Animation, Young Adults & Kids Media, now reporting to him.

Levy, who reports to Kent, will now be in charge of all creative and business activity of the Turner networks TBS, TNT, Turner Classic Movies, truTV, Cartoon Network, Boomerang and Adult Swim, as well as their digital brand extensions, in addition to continuing to oversee the company’s domestic revenue areas, ad sales and affiliate sales. This new structure increases efficiency, focus and accountability for growth and results.

“John Martin and I discussed the future of Turner and this new structure upon the announcement of John’s appointment as the company’s next CEO,” Kent said. With his enthusiastic support, we agreed David will provide outstanding leadership to his longtime colleagues Steve Koonin and Stu Snyder, and will be a significant managerial asset to John, as CEO, and Turner.”

Turner Broadcasting System

August 5, 2013
‘Sword in Stone’ Blu-ray Offers Alternative Opening

If you happen to check out the new Blu-ray edition of Disney’s classic animated feature The Sword in the Stone which comes out on Tuesday (Aug. 6) you’ll be able to check out an alternative opening to the 1963 movie. Directed by Disney veteran Wolfgang Reitherman, the pic offered an animated take on the legend of King Arthur. It’s also the last theatrical animated project that was released when Walt Disney was still alive.

Based on the T.H. White novel, the pic followed the adventures of young orphan Wart and his mentor Merlin the wizard as he fulfills his destiny as the king who unites England after pulling the sword out of the stone. In the alternative opening, the evil witch Madam Mim sends a raven to seek out the lost prince Arthur. Wart’s brother Kay lets him shoot an arrow, the raven seizes it in midair and Kay orders Wart to retrieve it. The raven draws him deep into the forest so the witch and the Black Knight can get Wart in their clutches, but Merlin ends up rescuing him. The alternative opener is darker than the original and lacks the classic’s magical touch, but it’s always great to be able to look inside the Disney vaults for tidbits like these!

Here’s a clip from the original pic:

The Sword in the Stone

The Sword in the Stone

August 5, 2013
‘Castle in the Sky’ Telecast Causes New Twitter Record

Hayao Miyazaki’s 1986 feature Castle in the Sky is still able to cause a fan frenzy in Japan. On August 2, Twitter users in Japan set a new world record of 143,199 tweets per second (TPS) by tweeting the word “Balus” during a broadcast of the movie on Nippon TV. Balus is recognized as a magic word among Miyazaki fans, as it triggers a spell of destruction when said by the characters in the climax of Castle in the Sky. The pic, which centers on the adventures of a young boy and a mysterious girl who comes from a floating castle in a lost civilization, is the first film produced and distributed by Studio Ghibli in Japan.

Twitter confirmed that it had beaten the 33,388 TPS mark set, also in Japan, on Jan. 1, when “ake-ome” —a shortened version of ‘Happy New Year’ in Japanese—was tweeted en masse. Just to give you an idea of how major this record is, the royal baby madness following after the birth of Prince William and Kate Middleton’s son in July generated only 25,300 per minute.

In December 2011, when Castle in the Sky aired on TV, “balus” was tweeted 25,088 times a second, setting a TPS record at the time. According to The Hollywood Reporter, the official twitter accounts of Amazon, PlayStation, Nissan, KFC and convenience store Lawson in Japan also featured a “balus” button that made it look like their pages were destroyed when pressed.

Castle in the Sky

August 5, 2013
Miyazaki Pic Continues to Stir Auds in Japan

Hayao Miyazaki’s latest film The Wind Rises, which opened in Japan on July 20, continues to divide audiences in the country. The pic offers a fictional take on the life of Jiro Horikoshi, the man who designed the famous Japanese Zero fighter planes that were used in the Second World War. Some audiences are troubled by the fact that the movie celebrates the achievements of a man indirectly responsible for war atrocities.

In 2011, the anime master told an interviewer for Cut Magazine, “My wife and my staff would ask me, ‘Why make a story about a man who made weapons of war?’ And I thought they were right. But one day, I heard that Horikoshi had once murmured, ‘All I wanted to do was to make something beautiful.’ And then I knew I’d found my subject.”

Mr. Miyazaki said that he wanted to portray the engineer’s life, without being judgmental.

“Jiro Horikoshi was the most gifted man of his time, in Japan,” he noted in the Cut interview. “He wasn’t thinking about weapons. Ultimately, he made high-tech destroyers, but really all he desired was to make exquisite planes.”

“It’s a movie that makes you want to say, ‘I’ve never seen a movie and never will ever see a movie that was as good this one,’” tweeted Mamoru Hosoda, the Japanese animator and director of Summer Wars.

Some audiences have been troubled by the darker tone of the latest movie and its serious plotline, which also involves a young female artist battling tuberculosis, which is worlds apart from younger-skewing pics such as My Neighbor Totoro and Ponyo.

The Wind Rises will screen at the 70th Venice International Film Festival in Italy, which will be held from August 28th through September 7th.

The Wind Rises

August 4, 2013
Melbourne to Host ‘Art of DreamWorks’ Exhibit in 2014

Australian audiences will be able to enjoy an exhibit devoted to the art of films produced by DreamWorks Animation in its 19-year history next year. Melbourne’s Australian Center of the Moving Image (ACMI) will kick off the exhibit on April 10, 2014 and will host the show until October 26. The special exhibit will be touring, but the other global stops have not yet been confirmed.

DreamWorks Animation Chief Creative Officer Bill Damaschke said that the exhibition would give visitors an insight into the creative process behind animations produced by the studio.

The main focus of the exhibit will be on the studio’s most popular tentpoles: Shrek, How to Train Your Dragon, Madagascar and Kung Fu Panda: However, early hand- drawn films such as The Prince of Egypt (1998) and Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron (2002), and a selection of recent releases including Rise of the Guardians (2012), The Croods (2013), and Turbo (2013) will also be part of the exhibit.

“Visitors will be able to fully explore the groundbreaking technologies that DreamWorks Animation has used to create its animated characters and worlds over 20 years, from the pioneering forms of computer animation and motion capture through to very latest in 3D technology,” ACMI director and CEO, Tony Sweeney told The Melbourne Herald.

The art of How to Train Your Dragon

August 4, 2013
Second Time’s Not a Charm for ‘The Smurfs’
Sony’s big summer sequel Smurfs 2 failed to draw big numbers at the American box office this past weekend. The live-action/CG-animated hybrid landed in the third spot Stateside, making about $27.8 million during its first five days at the box office.

The studio was projecting a $35 million opening weekend, since the original movie brought in about $35.6 million during its first three-day weekend in 2011.

Peyo’s little blue guys and gal fared better overseas where they made a total of $80.3 million (still less than the studio’s projected $100 million). The numbers were better in Russia and Latin America then they were in Europe, says Deadline.com. The original movie made 75% of overall cume abroad ($420 million foreign vs $142M domestic). Although the critics didn’t warm up to the sequel (it rated a Rotten Tomatoes of 12%), the Raja Gosnell-directed family film scored an A- CinemaScore from audiences.

Smurfs 2 is based on the evergreen comic-book property created Belgian artist Peyo (real name Pierre Culliford) and is the second in a planned trilogy by Sony. Directed by Raja Gosnell, the film also stars Neil Patrick Harris and Hank Azaria and the voice talents of the late Jonathan Winters, Katy Perry, Christina Ricci, Brendan Gleeson, George Lopez and others.

In addition to facing competition from other recent family titles such as Despicable Me 2, Monsters University and Turbo, the film will also have to contend with Disney’s Planes on August 9.

Here is the rest of the U.S. Top 10:
1. 2 Guns (Universal) Weekend: $27.300 million
2. The Wolverine (Fox) Weekend: $21.735 million; Cume: $95 million
3. Smurfs 2 (Sony) Weekend: $18.200 million; Cume: $27.7 million
4. The Conjuring (Warner Bros.) Weekend: $13.660 million; Cume: $108.5 million
5. Despicable Me 2 (Universal/Illumination) Weekend: $10.391 million; Cume: $326.6
6. Grown Ups 2 (Sony) Weekend: $8.100 million; Cume: $116.4 million
7. Turbo (Fox/DreamWorks) Weekend: $6.400 million; Cume: $69.4 million
8. Red 2 (Summit/Lionsgate) Weekend: $5.650 million; Cume: $45.1 million
9. The Heat (Fox) Weekend: $4.725 million; Cume: $145.5 million
10. Pacific Rim (Warner Bros.) Weekend: $4.570 million; Cume: $92.2 million
Smurfs 2
August 4, 2013
Disney Jr.’s ‘Miles from Tomorrowland’ Has Liftoff

Disney Junior’s new animated preschool series Miles From Tomorrowland has begun production. The charming CG-animated space adventure is created and exec produced by Sascha Paladino (Henry Hugglemonster, Ni Hao, Kai-lan) and directed by Paul Demeyer (Duckman, Rugrats in Paris).

The series, which will debut in 2015 on Disney Junior channels and programming blocks globally centers on the space voyages of young adventurer Miles and his family. The announcement was made on Thursday (August 1) by Nancy Kanter, senior VP or original programming and general manager, Disney Junior Worldwide.

“We hope this series will influence a child’s interest in science and technology by introducing them at an early age to the exciting world of space exploration, how things work and what lies beyond the here and now,” says Kanter.

Set in outer space, the series charts the missions of the Callisto family—7-year-old Miles, big sister Loretta and their scientist parents Phoebe and Leo, who work for the Tomorrowland Transit Authority. Each episode features two 11-minute adventure-filled stories as Miles and his family explore strange new worlds, taking young viewers and their families on a journey that fuels kids’ natural interest in the universe, as well as emphasizing the importance of relationships between family members.

Miles From Tomorrowland

August 2, 2013
Planeta Jr. Brings ‘Sendokai Champions’ to BLE

European children and teen producer and distributor Planeta Junior will present Sendokai Champions (produced by Kotoc Produccions, Nottingham Forest and RTVE) at the upcoming Brand Licensing Europe show in London (Oct. 15-17) this fall. The company manages the licensing and merchandising program for the property in various Euro territories, including Italy, France, Greece, Russia, Turkey and Central and Eastern European countries.

The animated show targets young audiences (6 to 9) and follows the adventures of four friends who have to overcome their shortcomings and learn the art of Sendokai in order to become warriors, win the Great Multiverse Tournament and thus save the Earth. The first season of the show is currently airing in in Spain and more than 50 Latin American countries. It will also debut in the U.S., Eastern Europe, Portugal, Asia Pacific and Sub-Saharan Africa in the hear future.

Planeta Junior will also be handling the latest L&M plans for Studio 100’s animated series Vicky the Viking and Maya the Bee and Rainbow’s Mia and Me, Winx Club, Pop Pixie and Huntik, as well as Cyber Group’s preschool show Zou and The Riki Group’s Kikoriki (Spain, Portugal and France).

Sendokai Champions

August 2, 2013
Saban/MarVista Send ‘Power Rangers’ to the U.K.

Saban Brands and MarVista Entertainment have licensed the latest installment of the Power Rangers franchise, Saban’s Power Rangers: Megaforce, to the United Kingdom’s Channel 5, where it will debut this summer. The announcement was made by Fernando Szew, CEO, MarVista Entertainment, and Katie Keenan, Head of Acquisitions for Channel 5.

“Broadcasters the world over have shared in the phenomenal success of Saban’s Power Rangers franchise, which has consistently delivered strong ratings for decades,” said Szew. “The latest series promises the same amount of action, humor, excitement and entertainment as Power Rangers: Super Samurai, which Channel 5 is currently airing, and given its broad viewership, debuting the new series hot on the heels of Super Samurai to the channel’s loyal fans is a natural next step.”

Saban’s Power Rangers: Megaforce is currently airing on Nickelodeon and Nicktoons in North America; on YTV and Teletoon in Canada; and on Gulli and Canal J in France, with several new broadcast partners to be announced in the coming weeks.

The new season of the series Power Rangers Super Megaforce will officially debut to the international television market at MIPJunior this year. The new series focuses on the Rangers’ mission to defeat a massive alien army Armada that was sent to conquer Earth. To face this threat, Gosei, a supernatural guardian who has protected Earth for centuries, gives the Rangers special morphers and keys, which allow them to morph into Super Megaforce Rangers. The Rangers also have an added special ability to morph into any team of Power Rangers from the past. Saban’s Power Rangers Super Megaforce will debut on Nickelodeon in various world markets in 2014.

Power Rangers Super Megaforce

August 2, 2013
Warner Bros. Jumpstarts Dormant ‘Akira’ Movie

Here’s some good news for diehard fans of the seminal 1988 anime feature Akira. Variety reports that director Jaume Collet-Serra (Unknown) is in discussions to return to lead Warner Bros. feature adaptation of the project. Collet-Serra left the project in early 2012 after production changes were needed to fix the script and tighten the budget from its original $90 million price tag. The director then picked up the Liam Neeson live-action feature Non Stop, which will be released February 2014.

WB acquired the popular project for a seven-figure sum from Japanese publisher Kodansha five years ago. Set in New Manhattan, the cyberpunk sci-fi epic follows the leader of a biker gang who must save his friend, discovered with potentially destructive psychokinetic abilities, from government medical experiments. Akira is largely regarded as one of the top animated films of all time thanks to its psychological depth and blend of themes from youth uprising, social unrest, psychic ability, nuclear holocaust and Japan’s post-war revival and its cool cyberpunk aesthetic.

The movie is produced by Leonardo DiCaprio, Jennifer Davisson Killoran and Andrew Lazar. Otomo will executive produce the remake. According to some sources, Tron: Legacy’s Garrett Hedlund is expected to play the role of Kaneda. The film’s original script was penned by Steve Kloves, who penned seven of the Harry Potter movies and the 2012 Spider-Man movie.

Akira

August 2, 2013
‘History of Pets’ Wins ABP’s Top Prize

Brooklyn’s popular Animation Block Party has announced its top prize winners. Dedicated to showcasing all genres of the world’s top indie, professional and student projects, ABP is directed by animation veteran Casey Safron. The event usually runs for three days at the end of July. The 10th anniversary edition of the event broke previous records with 4,000 in total attendance and many sold-out screenings.

The ABP 2013 Jury Award Winners are:

Best in Show
History of Pets – Kris Genijn / Netherlands

Original Design
Kick-heart – Masaaki Yuasa / Japan & NY

Computer Animation
Tumbleweed Tango – Sam Stephens & Christopher Mauch / NYC

Experimental Film
Junk – Kirk Hendry / UK

Music Video
Spacetime Fabric Softner – Ryan Mauskopf / NYC

Narrative Short
Disney Star Wars Corporate Retreat – Ron Yavnieli / LA

Student Film
Jamon – Iria Lopez / National Film & Television School

Minute Movie
Gum – Noam Sussman /

Sheridan Animation For Kids
Icarus Falls – Jesse O’Brien / Syracuse

Audience Award
Knock Knock – Chadwick Whitehead / Brooklyn

The Animation Block Party 2013 Prize Jury included Jerry Beck, animation historian at Cartoon Research; Carrie Miller, network manager at Frederator Studios; Devin Clark, creator of Comedy Central’s Ugly Americans; and Scout Raskin, animation acquisitions manager at ShadowMachine.

Prizes included software from Toon Boom, Digicel FlipBook, Dragonframe 3.0, designer bags from Crumpler, art supplies from Sakura, ABP DVDs, T-Shirts and a special ABP Production Grant for the winner of Best Student Film.

For more info, visit www.animationblock.com.

Here’s the teaser for History of Pets!

History of Pets

August 1, 2013
CN’s ‘Uncle Grandpa’ to Spread Magic in Sept.

Get ready for the mad adventures of Cartoon Network’s spanking new animated series Uncle Grandpa, as it debuts on September 2 at 8 p.m. Created by Pete Browngardt (Secret Mountain Fort Awesome), who also voices the eponymous character, the show centers on everyone’s “magical” uncle and grandpa who travels around the world in a mystical RV.

His mission is to help people however, wherever and whenever they need it. Through his child-like and innocent ways, he finds unusual solutions to everyday situations, even if there was never an issue in the first place. An eternal optimist, Uncle Grandpa’s glass is always full of something delicious and he’s always ready to greet the day (and everything and everyone) with his signature, “GOOD MORNIN’!” Audie Harrison (The Golden Compass) serves as creative director.

Joining Uncle Grandpa are Belly Bag, his right-hand man who happens to be his fanny pack, voiced by Eric Bauza (Ben 10: Omniverse), Mr. Gus, a dinosaur person who Uncle Grandpa rescued from extinction when he was merely a tiny egg, voiced by Kevin Michael Richardson (Green Lantern: The Animated Series), Pizza Steve, an egotistical slice of pizza in sunglasses voiced by Adam Devine (Workaholics, Pitch Perfect) and a realistic flying tiger powered by rainbow propulsion named Giant Realistic Flying Tiger. Together, this eclectic bunch is there to aid Uncle Grandpa on his various journeys, whether by providing a voice of reason or encouraging even more fantastical adventure.

Uncle Grandpa premieres this Labor Day on Cartoon Network, accompanying Adventure Time, Regular Show and MAD on the cabler’s Monday night comedies. Each quarter-hour episode includes containing a main story, fun bumpers and an original short. Uncle Grandpa will have a strong digital and social media presence, with original games on www.CartoonNetwork.com and shareable GIFs for Facebook and Twitter.

Here’s the first Uncle Grandpa short which inspired the series:

Uncle Grandpa

August 1, 2013
Blue Guys Expected to See Major Green Worldwide

Sony’s The Smurfs 2 was the most popular movie on Wednesday with a $5.2 million opening day Stateside. Although the family pic’s numbers were slightly lower than DreamWorks’ Turbo (which also opened on a Wednesday at made $5.6 million and a $31 million five-day weekend), the live-action/CG hybrid is expected to draw a larger audience overseas this week.

The first Smurfs movie opened in July 2011 and made $35.6 million in its first three days at the box office and finished with a dazzling $563.7 million worldwide. Smurfs 2 brought in $1.4 million in the U.K. on Wednesday, 21 percent ahead of The Smurfs. The sequel also hit the number one spot in France and Switzerland.

Smurfs 2 is based on the evergreen comic-book property created Belgian artist Peyo (real name Pierre Culliford) and is the second in a planned trilogy by Sony. Directed by Raja Gosnell, the film also stars Neil Patrick Harris and Hank Azaria and the voice talents of the late Jonathan Winters, Katy Perry, Christina Ricci, Brendan Gleeson, George Lopez and others.

In addition to facing competition from other recent family titles such as Despicable Me 2, Monsters University and Turbo, the film will also have to contend with Disney’s Planes on August 9.

The Smurfs 2

August 1, 2013
FOX TV Releases Full Guest List for Sunday Toons

FOX has announced the full list of famous guest voices coming to its Animation Domination this fall on Sunday nights.

The Simpsons will be showcasing the vocal talent of Bridesmaids star Kristen Wiig in its the season premiere in which she’ll play a high-strung FBI agent who helps Lisa when something seemingly sinister has happened to Homer. The long-running series will also feature Elisabeth Moss, Zach Galifianakis, Rachel Maddow, Stan Lee, Harlan Ellison, Anderson Cooper, Eva Longoria, Judd Apatow, Will Arnett and Daniel Radcliffe during its 25th season.

Bob’s Burgers fans can look forward to hearing from Molly Shannon, Will Forte, Jordan Peele, Kathryn Hahn, Bobcat Goldthwait, Rachel Dratch, Matt Walsh, Tim Meadows, Gary Cole, Ken Jeong, Aziz Ansari, Megan Mullally and Jenny Slate during the fourth season on FOX.

Meanwhile, Family Guy will showcase the voices of Adam Levine, Conan O’Brien, Ashton Kutcher, Jon Cryer, Bryan Cranston, Jeff Daniels, Liam Neeson, Peter Dinklage and Tony Sirico in its 12th season.

In addition, Elli Kemper, Zooey Deschanel, Mark Cuban, Stanley Tucci, Olivia Wilde, Alison Brie, Sinbad, Mae Whitman and Alan Thicke are all part of the 10th Season of FOX’s American Dad.

The new fall season of Animation Domination will begin on Sunday, Sept. 29, airing from 8 p.m. to 10 p.m. on FOX.

Family Guy

August 1, 2013
Cameron Planning Three More ‘Avatar’ Movies

Fox has confirmed that James Cameron has lined up screenwriters for three sequels to his blockbuster 2009 feature Avatar. It was commonly known that the visionary director and producer has been working on two follow-up films to the sci-fi pic over the last four years, but today it was revealed that Avatar 4 is also on the book. Yesterday, it was announced that Josh Friedman (War of the Worlds, Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles), has been hired to help out with the script to Avatar 2.

On Thursday, the studio revealed that Cameron has also tapped Friedman, Rick Jaffa & Amanda Silver (Rise of the Planet of the Apes), and Shane Salerno (Savages) to collaborate with him on the scripts for Avatar 2, 3 and 4. The first sequel is expected to arrive in theaters in December 2016, while Avatar 3 and 4 will be ready for Dec. 2017 and 2018. The director has also said that the fourth film may actually be a prequel which explores the colonization process of Pandora.

In an official statement, Cameron noted, “Building upon the world we created with Avatar has been a rare and incredibly rewarding experience. In write the new films, I’ve come to realize that Avatar‘s world, story and characters have become even richer than I anticipated, and it became apparent that two films would not be enough to capture everything I wanted to put on screen. And to help me continue to expand this universe, I’m pleased to bring aboard Amanda, Rick, Shane and Josh — all writers I’ve long admired - to join me in completing the films screenplays.”

Avatar

August 1, 2013
John Lasseter Elected First VP of Academy

Pixar and Disney chief creative officer John Lasseter has been elected to the post of first VP of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. He previously served terms as treasurer and secretary.

Cheryl Boone Isaacs, who begins her 21st year as a governor representing the Public Relations Branch, was elected president of the Academy. Elections were held by the organization’s Board of Governors on Tuesday night (July 30).

Jeffrey Kurland and Leonard Engelman were elected to vice president posts; Dick Cook was elected treasurer; and Phil Robinson was elected secretary.

These will be the first officer stints for Engelman, Kurland and Cook. Lasseter previously served one-year terms as treasurer (2011-2012) and secretary (2009-2010). Robinson served as vice president during the past year, his fourth consecutive term in that office (2009-2013).

Academy board members may serve up to three consecutive three-year terms, while officers serve one-year terms, with a maximum of four consecutive years in any one office.

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences

July 31, 2013