Marvel Studios Pumps the Brakes on The Runaways

Deadline.com:

Marvel simply has too much going on at the moment and will take its time on the live action adaptation of the comic hatched by Lost writer Brian K. Vaughan... Director Peter Sollett, who signed up with the idea this would be his followup to Nick and Nora's Infinite Playlist, is still attached but has been invited to take another film first.

The film was scheduled to go into production early next year.

John Lasseter Officially Director of Cars 2, Brad Lewis Now Co-Director

Co-Director was the title bestowed on Jan Pinkava after he was removed from Ratatouille.

It's basically a "thanks for your hard work, but we'll take it from here" sort of thing.

First Cars 2 Teaser

Can't be worse than the first.

Confirmed: Brenda Chapman No Longer Director Pixar's Brave

The New York Times confirms, but they report that she remains on staff at Pixar.

I wonder if it's another situation like Jan Pinkava; after being replaced as the director of Ratatouille he took on lesser responsibilities at Pixar and shortly left the company.

I don't have any inside information but it wouldn't surprise me if Ms. Chapman moved on shortly.

Disney and More: Walt Disney, Wernher von Braun and the Space Program

Alain from Disney and More with another fascinating article on a relatively unexplored moment in Disney history.

Carousel of Progress Like You've Never Seen It

More behind-the-scenes pictures from Imagineering Disney, this time from the Carousel of Progress at the Magic Kingdom in Walt Disney World.

Some pretty great pictures of animatronics up close. Cat nip for geeks like me.

One of my favorite bits:

The printed paper props (newspapers, calendar, etc.) are made up of stacks of the exact same print. If the top print wares out or goes missing, the subsequent layers of paper are identical.

Al Lutz: Horsing Around

A new update from the grandfather of internet Disneyland rumormongering.

Neither the Tomorrowland nor the Frontierland expansions are anywhere near moving forward. Mr. Lutz focuses on some of the developments being explored for Frontierland but it wouldn't surprise me if there's some action in Tomorrowland first.

There is a Tron attraction being developed for Disneyland that some folks are quite bullish on. If the film is a big hit this December, the project is guaranteed to gather more steam.

The problem with all of this is that TDA isn't looking to move forward on any major projects in Disneyland Park until after Cars Land is completed in 2012. A lot can change in eighteen months. There are no solid plans right now and many options are being developed and explored.

Cartoon Brew: Brenda Chapman No Longer Directing Pixar's Brave?

Brave has had a somewhat troubled development, so this isn't that surprising.

Cartoon Brew:

Crazy rumors floating into our offices this afternoon from reliable sources. We hear that Brenda Chapman, the first woman director at Pixar, has left the studio and is no longer directing Brave (previously titled The Bear and the Bow). We hear that she was pushed aside from full directing duties a while back, and that story artist Mark Andrews (who also co-directed the Pixar short One Man Band) has taken over directorial duties. We understand that the change officially happened last week, although it had been inevitable for some time.

As mentioned in the article, directors being replaced on animated films is a fairly common occurrence. But this is particularly noteworthy because Brave was to be the first Pixar film directed by a woman.

Iron Man 3 To Be Released 03 May 2013

Speaking of Iron Man 3, Marvel just announced the film will be released 03 May 2013.

No word on a director.

Shanghai Disneyland Construction to Begin in November?

Translated from Cantonese. Take it with a grain of salt.

Disney Buys-Out Paramount's Marvel Contract, Will Release Avengers & Iron Man 3

Disney will pay $115 million to Paramount but avoids having to work with a rival studio to launch major tentpoles. Paramount is still promoting and releasing Thor and Captain America: The First Avenger next summer.

Deadline.com

Paramount had been earning an 8% distribution fee on the Marvel titles like Iron Man. Paramount also put up P&A and got reimbursed over time. The $115 million will be paid in two installments--half when Iron Man 3 is released and the other half when The Avengers is released. One will be released May, 2012 and the other a year later. If those movies perform more strongly than expected, Paramount will earn more than $115 million. I'm told that the studio is actually getting 9% on that third Iron Man movie, a reward for launching one of Hollywood's most valuable franchises.