Disney’s ‘DigiComics’ iPhone App Launching Worldwide In 2010

Disney is rolling out a digital comics application for Apple’s iPhone and iPod touch and Sony’s PlayStation Portable globally beginning in Italy and soon to include the U.S. and UK, with rollouts in key markets throughout the world in 2010.

Disney DigiComics will begin by offering a relatively modest fifty downloadable comics featuring Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck, and other familiar Disney characters via in-app purchases, according to the Disney Comics Worldwide blog. The company will then begin adding five to ten new comics weekly, continuing storylines.

The comics were originally created for newspapers and magazines in Disney-crazy Italy, though in the future new content may be created just for the application. Series available first, according to the report, are X-Mickey, Wizards of Mickey, The Canterville Ghost, and Phantom of the Opera. Wizards of Mickey is published in the States by Boom! Studios (see “Boom’s Disney Standards”).

Up to 50,000 stories from the Disney archives are eventually planned for release through the app, according to Italy.

The new application represents a divergence from Disney’s digital strategy for desktop, where it’s pursuing a subscription model. Disney Books is now offering over 500 titles online by subscription for an annual fee of $79.95 (see “Disney Makes Children’s Books Available Online”).

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First Official Photo: Jake Gyllenhaal in Prince of Persia

Entertainment Weekly’s comic-con preview issue hits store shelves today, and features the above first official photo of Jake Gyllenhaal as Prince Dastan from Disney’s adaptation of Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time. Paparazzi and leaked set photos had appeared online previously. And then there was that small bit of preview footage that aired in May.

Mike Newell’s film, based on the popular video game, tells the story of an adventurous prince who teams up with a with Tamina (Gemma Arterton), a feisty and exotic princess, to prevent a villainous nobleman from possessing the Sands of Time, a gift from the gods that can reverse time. Prince of Persia: Sands of Time will hit theaters on May 28th 2010.

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Taylor Kitsch & Thomas Haden Church Joining ‘John Carter of Mars’ Cast?

Suddenly the John Carter of Mars news is flowing like crazy. Thomas Haden Church said on Reel Talk with Jeffrey Lyons that he’d be joining the film, in what he calls a ‘very dramatic role’. He’ll work alongside Taylor Kitsch (as John Carter) and Lynn Collins (as Dejah Thoris, heir to the Martian kingdom). Andrew Stanton will make his live-action directing debut with the film, which is written by Stanton and Mark Andrews, with additional recent work by Michael Chabon.

The actor said specifically that he was “probably going to do a huge science fiction drama at Disney called John Carter of Mars.” We’ve wondered exactly where on the Disney/Pixar line this project would fall, as it hasn’t been anywhere on Pixar’s announced slate. Increasingly, as reports of impending work in Utah have come out, it seems that this is primarily a Disney picture, even if it has Pixar talent. (Stanton and Andrews and, since we still understand that it will feature animation, possibly some other Pixar staff?) Work is set to begin in Utah in November, and Haden Church said that he’d be working on the film in the spring, so that gives some idea of the production timeline.

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‘John Carter Of Mars’ Begins Shooting This November In Utah

After many years in development, it appears that John Carter of Mars is gearing up to begin production. As you know by now, Finding Nemo and WALL-E director Andrew Stanton will be making his live action feature debut with an adaptation of Edgar Rice Burroughs’ 1917 sci-fi fantasy novel A Princess of Mars. KLS is reporting that Disney has signed a deal to shoot part of the film in Utah. After the jump I also have exclusive info that Tom Cruise was circling the project for a short period of time.

The screenplay was written by Andrew Stanton and Mark Andrews with some revisions from Michael Chabon (Spider-Man 2). Stanton began interviewing prospective actors in January, and I even heard rumblings from two good sources that Tom Cruise was seriously considering the project at one point (although I’ve been unable to confirm these rumors apart from knowing he had meetings at Pixar about being part of a potential trilogy of films). Tom Cruise’s representative was unwilling to comment on the matter. Whatever it was that Cruise was brewing over at Pixar’s Emeryville campus, the actor decided it was best to move on to something else — James Mangold’s Wichita.

Back to the shoot, Utah approved up to $5.5 million in tax credits, as Disney expects to spend $28 million in Utah when production begins in November. Stanton has previously stated that he wants to avoid the look and feel of Star Wars or any of its derivatives, and was seeking a “more naturalistic aesthetic.” Utah definitely fits the bill.

Governor’s Office of Economic Development Director Jason Perry says that the production will employ over 400 people full-time for seven-straight months, and that Disney believes the film could become its next big movie series, akin to Pirates of the Caribbean.

Thanks to Matt B and Dan H for the tip.

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Pixar Working on a ‘Monsters, Inc.’ Sequel

I talked to Up director Pete Docter about a month ago and asked him specifically about a Monsters, Inc. sequel. It had been rumored a few weeks prior, so I thought I’d see if I could pin him down on it. The answer was pretty vague: "Basically, the way we approach all the films at Pixar is if we feel like we come upon a story worth telling, we’ll do it. If we don’t, we won’t. So, we’re still looking."

But now Pixar has announced we will see a sequel to Monsters, Inc., and that Docter will be the back in the saddle. The studio didn’t issue a press release, but rather made its intentions known at the recent Licensing International Expo, and "several" attendees notified Disney-centric blogger Jim Hill that they were thrilled to hear the news.

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‘Lost’ Comes To Hulu, Plus More From Disney/ABC

Hulu.com just got better. In the works for a while, it’s now official: Disney, owner of ABC and ESPN, has announced an agreement to join Hulu as a joint venture partner and equity owner of Hulu. Sure, some ABC content has been available before, but expect full-length versions of current and archived episodes of shows including Lost, Grey’s Anatomy, Desperate Housewives, Ugly Betty, Scrubs and even daily shows such as General Hospital and The View, all supported by ads and viewable directly on Hulu, not on ABC’s website.

The deal will also include shows from ABC Family and SOAPnet, along with some favorites from the Disney Channel, and classics from The Walt Disney Studios.

Notably absent from the lineup is content from ESPN. They have a separate deal with YouTube, so they’ll most likely stay away from Hulu.

“Hulu has shown that if you make quality content available on the web and combine it with an unbeatable user experience, viewers will come, and so will advertisers,” said Jeff Zucker, president and CEO, NBC Universal (parent company of DVICE). “The addition of some of the best content Disney/ABC has to offer will only enhance Hulu’s standing as a top site for high quality video entertainment.”

Wow. Looks what happens when everyone agrees to play nice. We all win.

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Daft Punk Scoring the New Tron

This happens to be my son’s favorite music group so I thought I’d pass on /film’s announcement that Daft Punk is scoring Tron…

The confirmation comes from Upcoming Film Scores and the Disney folk they checked it out with: Daft Punk have signed on to write the score to Joseph Kosinski’s new Tron movie – Tron, Tron 2.0, Tr2n, 2ron or whatever the heck it ends up being called. May I suggest Trons? Jeez. It’s gonna get a bad name no matter what.

Officially, this is Daft Punk’s first full score. This strikes my skeptical side as a little odd seeing as they starred in, directed, edited, wrote and shot Electroma. The score for that film is credited to one Stephen Baker though I’m more than a little doubtful about his existence. I wouldn’t be too surprised if Baker turns out to be a Roderick Jaynes style fabrication. Should you be reading this, Mr. Baker, please do get in touch. I’d hate to be denying credit where it’s actually due.

I’ve used a still from Electroma at the head of the post. The crash-helmeted characters you see are a pair of robots played by Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo and Thomas Bangalter, the members of Daft Punk. One prolonged sequence of the film sees them with human faces made of latex fitted over these shiny cyberheads. As if that isn’t disturbing enough – and it actually is, I had to watch through my fingers – there’s a truly disturbing bit where the latex melts. Shudder. Nightmares are made by Electroma - and I guess that’s a strong recommendation.

Any band with the music video back catalogue of Daft Punk must have done something right, even if that’s just signing to a label with a whip smart video commissioner. Amongst their compendium of mini-gems are Spike Jonze’ Da Funk, Michel Gondry’s Around the World, Leiji Matsumoto’s anime suite for Interstellar 555, Roman Copolla’s Revolution 909 and The YouTube Community’s collective efforts at writing on themselves and learning complex choreography.

The only way I’d feel Daft Punk were a neater, more seemingly fated appointment for the Tron gig would be if Kraftwerk had scored the original instalment. As it were, the amazing sounds the first time around were provided by Wendy Carlos who simply doesn’t have a modern day analog (pun intended).

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Dwayne Johnson Talks About His Stunts In ‘Witch Mountain’

Dwayne Johnson, who stars in the upcoming Disney fantasy film Race to Witch Mountain, told reporters that he did his taxi-driver character’s stunt work and cab driving himself. "I actually did all of the stunt work, which was great for me," Johnson said. "I had a lot of fun—it reminded me just how fun and cool movies are."

Johnson, who reunites with director Andy Fickman after last year’s The Game Plan, said that the film was a learning process for both of them. "I had never shot action sequences like that," Johnson confessed. "Scott Rogers, who was the action coordinator for the Bourne movies, came on board, and he did these really great action sequences, and much to Andy Fickman’s chagrin, I was able to do all of the car stunts. Second unit shot them, that’s how he didn’t know that I was in the car. He would have said no, but I would not have listened, like I normally don’t when he gives me direction."

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Jeff Bridges Gets Digitally Scanned/Cloned for Tron Sequel

io9 has gotten word that Jeff Bridges has been sent up to Canada to get digitized so that the Disney can create a younger digital clone of the actor for Tron 2. According to the source, the high resolution scan picks up every little detail, and Disney will use the digital scans to make Bridges look younger in post, and even possibly implant the younger likeness on Bridges on a body double.

I’m not so sure the digital scan is for the film itself as digital scanning is also a common practice in video game development. The Los Angeles Times Tech blog reported a rumor earlier this week that Disney Interactive is also working on a new video game with the same title to accompany the 2011 film release.

Source: /film

Report: Disney Planning New Tron Game

Disney Interactive Studios, which just laid off some staff, is readying a game based on the upcoming Tron film sequel TR2N, according to Variety’s unnamed sources.

The publisher is apparently “talking to developers” about the game, implying that it could be developed by an external studio, a la Monolith Productions’ 2003 shooter Tron 2.0.

No other details are known about the game, though Variety believes it will arrive simultaneously with the neon-heavy computer thriller, which stars Tron veteran Jeff Bridges alongside newcomers Garret Hedlund and Olivia Wild, in 2011.

Source: ShackNews.com

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