With more than a dozen computer-animated movies being readied for release by next summer, Hollywood is facing viewer fatigue worthy of Sleeping Beauty. Analysts and industry executives have long warned of a coming glut of computer-animated movies. That time has come. Now, with so many movies for audiences to choose from, some are failing to meet expectations or are flopping outright.

This summer's "The Wild," from the Walt Disney Company, proved anything but for moviegoers, bringing in only $37 million at the domestic box office. The bigger disappointment was "The Ant Bully," produced by the actor Tom Hanks and distributed by Warner Brothers Entertainment. That movie’s powerful ant wizard could muster only enough magic to garner $27 million. By contrast, the debut of "Open Season," the tale of a defiant grizzly bear and feisty mule deer who battle hunters, brought in $23 million over the weekend for Sony Pictures Entertainment, putting it in first place. But only the coming weeks will tell whether it will be widely embraced by moviegoers.

Over the last five years, almost every major film studio has sought to make or acquire the type of movies pioneered by Pixar, which was recently acquired by Disney. At the same time, independently financed animators have ratcheted up production. But while animation continues to be popular with families, audiences complain it is suffering from too much sameness, with movie plots and characters looking increasingly alike. Computer animation is not the novelty it was when introduced a decade ago. Now even actors are animation-savvy. Aside from Mr. Hanks, the popular actor Will Smith has plans to produce an animated film in India. With all the choices, moviegoers are being forced to sift through an increasingly crowded marketplace where quality and brand-name recognition will ultimately reign supreme.

"I think audiences are saying, 'I've seen a lot of computer animation and it's not so special anymore,'" said Julia Pistor, an executive producer of the recent "Barnyard," which was a modest performer, bringing in $69 million domestically. "In that case it's a lot harder for a movie to break through."

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Lassie Comes Home Again

Here is some hope for the parent tired of the barrage of children's animated movies. The always reliable Lassie is returning to the big screen in Lassie, which is a remake of the 1943 Lassie Come Home film. Like the 1943 movie, the new Lassie movie is also based on Eric Knight's classic novel. Starring in the film with Lassie are John Lynch, Samantha Morton and Peter O'Toole. The film's website has a cute feature that allows your child to get a photograph with Lassie. You just upload a your child's photograph to the website, select one of three frames and then drag one of the Lassie images provided onto your photograph. If, after seeing the movie, your child wants a collie, a website called The Lassie Network has already prepared a faq called Do you want a dog just like Lassie?. The Lassie Network website also has a great deal of information about Lassie including photos of Lassie from the premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival.

Posted on August 31, 2006
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Movie to be Made Based on Amazing Live Sea-Monkeys

Variety reports that Michael Birnbaum has cut a deal with Transcience Corp. to create a movie based on the Sea-Monkeys toys.

Empire Pictures has struck a deal with Transcience Corp. to develop an animated film and possible franchise from the infamous children's toy line "The Amazing Live Sea-Monkeys." Under the deal, Empire acquired entertainment rights to the line, which has been on the market for 45 years and sold in more than 50 countries.

Empire founder and prexy Michael Birnbaum is focusing first on an animated feature, but possible spinoffs down the line could include a television series and merchandising. Birnbaum currently is meeting with writers to develop a take for the story before shopping the project to studios.

Product line features the tiny pets, which hatch instantly and live up to two years in a special tank. Their bigscreen story will be set in a microscopic ocean world, Birnbaum told Daily Variety.

"I grew up with Sea-Monkeys," he said. "The property's instant name recognition on a global basis makes it a platform from which to launch an animated film franchise."

Sea-Monkeys are still sold today. You can find them on Amazon.com and on the official Sea-Monkeys website. Cinematical thinks Birnbaum might be envisioning success like the Smurfs tv series experienced. However, the Smurfs were much cuter than brine shrimp can be made to be. You can read more about the possible Sea-Monkeys movie at Chud.com, Film Rotation and Comingsoon.net.

Posted on August 24, 2006
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Helena Bonham-Carter to Join Harry Potter Cast

Helena Bonham-Carter has joined the cast of the next Harry Potter film. Helena will play Beatrix Lestrange.

Helena Bonham Carter has won the role of evil Death Eater Bellatrix Lestrange in the next Harry Potter film. The Charlie and the Chocolate Factory actress will play one of Lord Voldemort's followers in the forthcoming Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. The 40-year-old star, who has been cultivating quirky roles in recent years but made her name starring in a succession of bodice-rippers, is one of several newcomers to the Potter franchise.

Imelda Staunton is playing dark arts teacher Dolores Umbridge, George Harris is Kingsley Shacklebolt, Natalia Tena is Nymphadora Tonks, Kathryn Hunter is Mrs Figg and a 14-year-old actress, Evanna Lynch, is Luna Lovegood. The fifth big-screen Potter adaptation is being directed by award-winning British filmmaker David Yates, whose other movies include The Girl in the Cafe, Sex Traffic, and State of Play.

Daniel Radcliffe (Harry Potter), Rupert Grint (Ron Weasley) and Emma Watson (Hermione Granger) will reprise their roles as the close-knit teen wizards. The cast also includes regulars Robbie Coltrane, Ralph Fiennes, Michael Gambon, Gary Oldman, Alan Rickman, Maggie Smith, Emma Thompson and Julie Walters. The film, which will have a score by composer Nicholas Hooper, is being released next year.

Finally, some good Harry Potter news. Because we really, really don't want to hear any more about Daniel Radcliffe doing a nude scene in the (rather weird and unpleasant) play Equus.

Posted on August 8, 2006
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Pixar's Cars Wins Weekend Box Office

Pixar's Cars topped the box office this past weekend, bringing its two week total to $114,505,000. Debuting this weekend, Jack Black's Nacho Libre made $27,513,000, with The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift coming in third with $24,056,000. In fourth place was The Lake House starring Keanu Reeves and Sandra Bullock with a somewhat disappointing showing of $13,665,000.

In fifth place was The Break-Up starring Vince Vaughn and Jennifer Aniston, which has now taken in a whopping $91,931,000, which is an amazing number for a romantic comedy and nothing but good news for Jennifer Aniston's movie career.

Posted on June 19, 2006
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Cars Zooms To First Place At Box Office

Disney/Pixar's new animated film Cars zoomed to the top of the box office this weekend, making $62,800,000. The reviews for the film weren't great, but desperate parents were thrilled to have a movie they could drag the tots off to for a couple of hours.

The Break-Up starring Jennifer Aniston and Vince Vaughn remained in second place ahead of The X-Men, with a total box office to date of $74,095,000., which is an excellent return for a romantic comedy.

A Prarie Home Companion, starring Meryl Streep and Lindsay Lohan, opened in limited release at 760 theaters nationwide. It made $4,671,000 for the weekend, with a respectable per-theater take.

Posted on June 12, 2006
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Scrat and Castorocauda Lutrasimilis

Scrat is a prehistoric squirrel/rate creature in the hit animated films: Ice Age and Ice Age: The Meltdown. Many of the ads that promoted the latest movie featured Scrat scrambling after his precious acorn. The ads seemed to have worked as Ice Age: The Meltdown is approaching the $200 million mark at the box office.

Incidentally, a recent National Geographic article says a prehistorical beaver-like animal called Castorocauda lutrasimilis was discovered that pushes the earliest known aquatic mammal back nearly 40 million years further into the past. The beaver-like animal actually lived 164 million years ago during the Jurassic period. There are mammals known to have lived during this period but they are typically very small and not beaver sized. Perhaps, there was a silly Scrat-like creature that lived 160 million years ago as well?

Posted on May 31, 2006
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The Voices of Over the Hedge

This photograph shows three of the voice stars behind Dreamworks' Over the Hedge movie. It is unusual because until recently Avril Lavigne was the rocker yelling at Sk8er Bois and singing angst-ridden songs. Today, with her recent makeover, she fits in nicely with actors William Shatner and Bruce Willis. William Shatner is the voice of Ozzie the Opossum and Avril is the voice of her daughter, Heather the young opossum with an attitude. Bruce Willis plays RJ the Raccoon. Nick Nolte, Garry Shandling and Steve Carell also did voice work for the film.

Reviews of the film were very good. Roger Ebert gave the film three stars. USA Today also gave the film three stars out of four.

Over the Hedge, DreamWorks' latest animated offering, is a raucous, funny and fresh look at the 3 C's: conservation, consumerism and consumption (of the excessive and conspicuous kind).

The humanistic and relevant message is conveyed by an eclectic and artfully cast ensemble of voices, including Bruce Willis, Nick Nolte, Garry Shandling, Wanda Sykes, Steve Carell, Allison Janney, William Shatner and Avril Lavigne.

The vividly animated film - based on a comic strip by Michael Fry and T. Lewis - has an appealing balance of comic bits and exhilarating action sequences.

And parents will appreciate a PG-rated family movie that is appropriate for the youngest filmgoers and still clever enough for adults to enjoy.

The film had a big box office score of $38 million over the weekend as parents with small children looked for an alternative to the Da Vinci Code blockbuster. You can find more information about Over the Hedge at IMDB.com and the official movie website.

Posted on May 23, 2006
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