Expect Avengers logos everywhere very soon; Spartacus Blood And Sand to continue with new lead; DC Universe Online delayed; two new telefantasy shows…
Pixar Animated Moves To Sony For The Familiars
Doug Sweetland, the animation director best known for Pixar’s 2008 short Presto , is to direct an animated film for Sony called The Familiars for Sony, according to The Hollywood Reporter ’s Heat Vision . The film is based on the children’s fantasy book series by Adam Jay Epstein and Andrew Jacobson, which follows three young wizard apprentices who, after being whisked away to an evil kingdom by a nefarious queen, have to rely on their familiars – an alley cat, a blue jay and a tree frog – to escape. Sweetland spent 16 years at Pixar, working as an animator on Toy Story , A Bug’s Life , Toy Story 2 , Monsters, Inc , Finding Nemo , The Incredibles and Cars . HarperCollins released a trailer for the books that you can watch below:
There’s A Storm Coming
Variety reports that Summit Entertainment has optioned the right to Tempest , and we don’t mean the Shakespeare play that inspired Forbidden Planet (though that is definitely fantasy, so we could have covered it). Tempest is an upcoming time travel novel by Julie Cross, who on her blog describes the book as, “The first in a trilogy about a 19-year-old time traveler who witnesses his girlfriend's murder and inadvertently jumps back two years; stuck there, he's recruited by a shadowy government agency run by the man he thought was his father and vows to save his girlfriend no matter the cost.” But is it going to go head-to-head with Looper in the cinemas?
DC Universe Online Delayed
Sony Online Entertainment has announced that DC Universe Online has been delayed until early 2011. “SOE is dedicated to delivering the highest quality game experiences possible,” says John Smedley, President of Sony Online Entertainment. “ DC Universe Online is the first game of its kind, and a truly massive undertaking – the first action MMO set in the DC Universe, the first MMO on the PlayStation 3, and the first time the entire DC Universe will be accessible to the millions of fans who are eagerly anticipating its release. As the game heads into external beta testing, this extra time will allow us to address community feedback in a meaningful way. When we get deeper into external beta, we'll be able to share more information regarding the new launch date.” Teething troubles, then?
Lawyer Caught Between Two Worlds
Fox is developing a new TV show about a lawyer caught between two realities, according the The Hollywood Reporter ’s Live Feed . Splitting Adams (sometimes you wonder if the name comes before the concept) is about a young prosecutor who finds herself caught between two realities: one in which she is an incredible trial lawyer, and another in which she is the one on trial. So Ally McBeal meets Sliding Doors , then? The pilot has been written by newcomer David Hubbard who will also executive produce.
