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Rollercoaster Tycoon movie rights picked up by Sony Pictures
Sony Pictures has been rather successful with its Resident Evil movie franchise, so it only makes sense that the company has acquired the rights for the next big video game movie: Heavy Rain God of War Rollercoaster Tycoon. According to a report by Reuters, the project is being developed as a live-action/CGI hybrid at Sony Pictures Animation, with Harald Zwart, director of the upcoming Karate Kid remake, taking an executive producer role. Heat Vision adds that David Ronn and Jay Scherick are attached as writers, tasked with adapting the PC game into a marketable movie. Perhaps that should be an easier task than their current project: writing The Smurfs reboot. Considering the original games had no story whatsoever, the writers will have a lot of creative freedom -- as long as they remember to put rollercoasters in it. [Thanks, Joshua!]
Sony considers selling 50% of animation division
Sony Pictures Entertainment, in some sort of unpredictable blitzkrieg, is considering selling about half of its digital animation divisions (responsible for effects in the Spider-Man films and other stuff like Open Season). This action could net Sony upwards $500 million, according to a New York Times report. Investors think these divisions could move well into places like video games or television advertising. With Sony selling off the Cell to Toshiba recently, it seems they might actually be in a bit of trouble, what with their gaming division posting heavy losses again in the most recent quarter (though the other divisions covered for the loss). Perhaps Sony has something else up their sleeve. Any guesses? We'd buy a Sony toaster, if it had a little plasma HDTV screen on the side.
