Digital Media FX News Archives

Saturday - April 7, 2001
- $25,000 Reward for Return of Spiderman Costumes
- Osmosis Jones Trailer Tagged Onto Pokemon 3
- Disney Held Tight Reign on Pearl Harbor Production
- News Link of the Day - Hit British 'Butt Ugly' Cartoon to Invade U.S.

$25,000 Reward for Return of Spiderman Costumes
(by digitalmediafx.com) Columbia Pictures is offering a $25,000 reward for the return of four Spiderman outfits that were apparently stolen from a Sony Pictures Studio lot in Culver City, California last Tuesday.

According to the Associated Press, "The Spider-Man costumes are one-piece molded suits printed with a computer-generated rectangular pattern that creates a quasi-3-D effect."

Columbia Pictures has created a hotline for tips leading to the recovery of the costumes. Anyone with information regarding the missing costumes is asked to call the Columbia hotline at (310) 244-1044. Details concerning terms of the reward are available through Columbia Pictures.

While Columbia Pictures won't confirm the price of the costumes, some estimates are placing the value of each state of the art costume at over $50,000. The costumes were custom created for the movie Spiderman.

The costumes are worn by Tobey Maguire, who stars in the movie as Spiderman, and his stunt double. Principal photography on Spiderman, the live-action adventure film based on the Marvel comic book hero, began in January. The film is scheduled for release on May 3, 2002. It will include a heavy array of computer animation and special effects. The first movie pits Spiderman against the Green Goblin. Willem Dafoe plays the part of the Green Goblin, an arch-nemesis of Spiderman.

The costume fiasco isn't the only problem to hit the Spiderman set. Earlier this year, a construction worker was killed when a crane fell on him while constructing a set for the movie. In addition, last Tuesday Maguire's costumed Spiderman stunt double, Zack Hudson, broke his leg and was hospitalized after performing a risky stunt.

The special effects for Spiderman are being handled by Sony Pictures Imageworks. The special effects supervisor is John Dykstra. Sony Pictures Imageworks is also currently doing work on Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone and Stuart Little 2.

The tag line for Spiderman is, "With Great Power Comes Great Responsibility." A movie trailer for Spiderman is expected to play before Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within.

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Osmosis Jones Trailer Tagged Onto Pokemon 3
(by digitalmediafx.com) A movie trailer for Osmosis Jones is tagged to all copies of Pokemon 3, which is currently playing in theaters. In pairing the two, Warner Bros. appears to be ignoring recent government and nationwide concerns about marketing PG-13 and R rated films to children. Pokemon 3 is a G-rated film aimed at young children. Osmosis Jones, on the other hand, is rated PG-13 with very adult crude language and humor aimed at an older audience. This type of disregard is what has led the government to become involved in hearings on the issue of marketing adult oriented films to children. This could be especially true of Osmosis Jones because the animation in the movie can give a false impression that it is a kids film.

Hollywood executives have already admitted under pressure that they market more adult films - even R rated ones - specifically to children.

According to an article in the September 28, 2000 issue of USA Today titled, "Executives Admit to Targeting Children," the admission of fault is not leading to solutions:

"Hollywood executives, under tense questioning from a Senate committee, said publicly for the first time that they targeted R-rated movie marketing to children," starts the article. "But while appearing to varying degrees contrite, some of the eight studio executives flatly refused to stop certain practices denounced in a Federal Trade Commission report."

Warner Brothers Chairman Alan Horn has no apologies. According to a September 27, 2000 article appearing in CNN titled, "On Defensive, Hollywood Executives Pledge to Curb Marketing to Kids," Horn says the following:

"I reject any allegation that we are systematically or deliberately trying to circumvent our own rating system and the authority of parents. I'm neither embarrassed nor do I apologize for anything in the report as far as Warner Brothers practices are concerned."

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Disney Held Tight Reign on Pearl Harbor Production
(by digitalmediafx.com) There appears to be a groundswell of anticipation for Memorial Day weekend's movie release of Pearl Harbor. Behind the scenes there is celebration... that the production of the movie is over.

According to the Wall Street Journal, Disney held a tight reign throughout the movie, forcing out big name actors/actresses in favor of ones that would settle for $250,000 or less with bonuses only if the movie is a success.

"Disney insisted a studio executive be on the set daily to watch spending, an almost unheard-of move into the producers’ territory," says Wall Street Journal article titled, "How Disney’s Pearl Harbor Went Through a War to be Made."

The biggest battles on the set of Pearl Harbor were over money leading to arguments, frustrations, people nearly being fired, and crew quitting. The original requested budget to do the film right was for around $210 million. The budget approved by an upset Michael Eisner was $135 million. Demands to cut up to a third of the movie (to save money) were made, but instead compromises were reached.

Production problems aside, Pearl Harbor has become one of the most anticipated movies of the year and most critics feel it will easily clear $200 million at the U.S. Box Office alone. Here is the official synopsis for the movie:

"On a sleepy Sunday morning in December, as children played and families prayed, squadrons of Japanese warplanes screamed across the skies of a Hawaiian paradise and launched a surprise attack on the US armed forces at Pearl Harbor. The infamous day that jolted America from peaceful isolationism to total war and altered the course of history is relived in this epic tale of patriotism, passion and romance from producer Jerry Bruckheimer, producer/director Michael Bay and screenwriter Randall Wallace. Pearl Harbor focuses on the life-changing events surrounding December 7, 1941, and the war's devastating impact on two daring young pilots (Ben Affleck and Josh Hartnett) and a beautiful, dedicated nurse (Kate Beckinsale). It is a tale of catastrophic defeat, heroic victory, personal courage and overwhelming love set against a stunning backdrop of spectacular wartime action."

The visual effects for Pearl Harbor were done by Industrial Light & Magic.

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News Link of the Day - Hit British 'Butt Ugly' Cartoon to Invade U.S.

According to MSNBC:

"Martians will soon be invading the U.S., but they aren’t schlepping all the way here from Mars — just hopping a flight from Britain.

Following in the footsteps of 'Teletubbies' and 'Bob the Builder,' the 'Butt-Ugly Martians,' a hit computer-animated British cartoon series, is being transplanted to U.S. television this autumn..."

Click here for the full story.

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