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Exclusive: Lea Salonga is set to star in The Vale – Origins, a hybrid live-action and animated short film that will precede the forthcoming middle grade novel of the same name by Abigail Hing Wen.

Wen’s novel will release Sept. 16, 2025 through Aapi publishing house Third State Books, founded by Stephanie Lim and Charles Kim. The short film is in post production and slated for completion this summer. Wen wrote and directed the short film, which also has an animation team of John Aoshima attached as director and Neil Blevins Incredibles I, II, Wall-e, Up) as animation designer.

The short film follows the Lees, a grieving inventor family in Silicon Valley who find healing and connection through their young son’s creativity in The Vale, a virtual reality fantasy world they made. The family-friendly short film shifts between the real, live action world and the animated world,...

Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes scored the top honor, outstanding visual effects in a photoreal feature, at the 2025 Visual Effects Society Awards.

Dune: Part Two led the winners list with four wins in the feature categories, while The Wild Robot was named top animated film with four wins as well. Shogun won best photoreal episode, winning three awards. The Penguin also won three awards.

The Ves Awards recognizes “outstanding visual effects artistry and innovation in film, animation, television, commercials, video games and special venues,” according to the organization. This year, comedy duo The Sklar Brothers made their debut as the hosts of the show, while Keanu Reeves presented the Ves Award for Creative Excellence to Shogun actor-producer Hiroyuki Sanada.

Computer graphics researcher Paul Debevec presented VR/Immersive Technology pioneer Dr. Jacquelin Ford Morie with the Georges Melies Award, while Michael Dougherty presented VFX supervisor Takashi Yamazaki with the Visionary Award.

The Wild Robot dominated the 2025 Annie Awards honoring the best achievements in animation. The DreamWorks toon came in with 10 nominations across nine categories, and it won all of them: Best Feature, Best FX, Best Character Animation, Best Character Design, Best Direction, Best Music, Best Production Design, Best Voice Acting (Lupita Nyong’o), and Best Editorial.

The Annies win capped a momentous weekend for The Wild Robot, which also took the animated feature prizes at the Producers Guild of America Awards and Critics Choice Awards, cementing its position as the favorite going into the Academy Awards on March 2.

The film’s chief rival for the Best Animated Feature Oscar, Flow, also had a successful day, taking Best Feature — Independent and Best Writing, two races where it didn’t have to face The Wild Robot.

But do the Annie results make The Wild Robot unbeatable for the Oscar? Not necessarily. The link between...

The Wild Robot swept its categories at the 2025 Annie Awards, winning a leading nine awards, including best feature.

The DreamWorks Animation title was nominated 10 times, but two of those nods were in the same category.

Also Saturday night, The Wild Robot won the Producers Guild Award for outstanding producer of animated theatrical motion pictures. And Friday night, it won best animated feature at the Critics Choice Awards.

Other features that won multiple awards from the International Animated Film Society Asifa-Hollywood, which presents the prizes recognizing the year’s best in animation, include two-time winners Flow and Orion and the Dark, with the former winning best feature — independent and best writing — feature.

Flow, which won the Golden Globe for best animated motion picture, and The Wild Robot are both nominated for the Oscar for best animated feature, along with Inside Out 2, Memoir of a Snail and Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl.

The board of Asifa-Hollywood, the organization behind the 52nd annual Annie Awards, pondered, like many other organizers behind events on the awards season calendar, whether the show should be postponed or scaled back because of the devastating fires that ravaged Los Angeles in early January. Many members of the animation community are among those who’ve been severely impacted.

“We represent the animation community and it’s really important to us, especially at this time, that we support them a thousand percent,” says Asifa-Hollywood executive director Aubry Mintz. And after much discussion, the board decided that the show will go on, albeit with a somewhat more somber tone and featuring the announcement of efforts to consolidate resources and support for those in the community dealing with various (and in many cases multiple) losses.

“We discussed this with the board: ‘What are the implications if we go forward with the Annies...

The Oscars (and awards ceremonies in general) have a big animation problem. For much of Oscars history animated films have been shut out of nominations, with only animated short films having their own category. Then, once the Best Animated Feature category was created in 2001, it quickly came to be dominated by Disney films' and kids films in general. The Academy didn't take long to essentially consider the entire medium to be nothing more than a yearly celebration of Disney's marketing prowess, and the butt of endless dumb jokes about how tiring it is to watch a cartoon with your kids.

Granted, there have been surprises, like "Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio" going home with the win back in 2022, or when Hayao Miyazaki's "The Boy and the Heron" won last year. Still, the award has historically been rather predictable: a simple battle between the big American studios, and an award...

The Visual Effects Society has chimed in on the awards season conversation.

On Tuesday, the visual effects industry’s global honorary society announced nominees for the 23rd Annual Ves Awards — with top Best Visual Effects Oscar contenders Better Man, Dune: Part Two, and Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes among the films recognized.

Dune: Part Two led the way among photoreal features with seven nominations, including Best Feature. The Wild Robot led all animated films with five nominations; Shōgun and The Penguin earned four bids each on the TV side.

Wicked and Gladiator II, which are currently predicted to land among the Best Visual Effects Oscar nominees later this month, were both absent from the Best Feature lineup. Instead, the Ves Awards went with Mufasa: The Lion King and Twisters. Last year, just two of the five Best Visual Effects Oscar nominees were similarly nominated in the Ves Awards...

Updated with ceremony hosts: Dune: Part Two scored a leading seven nominations to lead the 2025 Ves Awards, which the Visual Effects Society revealed today. Denis Villeneuve’s sci-fi sequel will battle for the marquee Photoreal Feature category against Better Man, Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes, Mufasa: The Lion King and Twisters.

The Outstanding Supporting Visual Effects in a Photoreal Feature race is among Blitz, Civil War, Horizon: An American Saga – Chapter One, Nosferatu and Young Woman and the Sea. Battling for VFX in an Animated Feature are The Wild Robot — which leads all toon movies with five noms — Inside Out 2, Moana 2, Transformers One and Ultraman: Rising.

Shōgun and The Penguin nabbed received four nominations each to lead in the episodic TV field. See the list of nominees in all 25 categories below.

Related: Visual Effects Society Sets VR Pioneer Jacquelyn Ford Morie For Career Honor At Ves...

The Visual Effects Society (Ves) is the entertainment industry’s only official organization representing the extended global community of visual effects practitioners, including supervisors, artists, producers, technology developers, educators, and studio executives. The 5,000-member Ves body has now selected nominees for its 2025 awards honors in features, animation, television, commercials, games, and new media, as well as the VFX supervisors, VFX producers, and hands-on artists who bring their work to life.

“Dune: Part Two” leads the photoreal feature film field with seven nominations, although nominations include character work on “Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes” as well as “Better Man” and nominations for the virtuosic digital camerawork in Episode 4 of “House of the Dragon” Season 2, “The Red Dragon and the Gold.”

“The Wild Robot” is the top animated contender with five nominations. “Shōgun” and “The Penguin” each received four nominations in the episodic field, with “The Penguin” also nominated for...

The Visual Effects Society (Ves) announced its nominees for the 2025 Ves Awards, a celebration which annually “recognizes outstanding visual effects artistry and innovation in features animation, television, commercials, games and new media.”

Dune: Part Two led the film nominations with seven nods, while Shogun and The Penguin tie in the episodic field with four each. The Wild Robot led the animation field with five.

“The artistry, ingenuity and passion of visual effects practitioners around the world have come together to create remarkable imagery,” says Kim Davidson, Ves Chair. “We are seeing best in class work that elevates the art of storytelling and exemplifies the spirit of innovation. The Ves Awards is the only venue that showcases and honors these outstanding artists across a wide range of disciplines, and we are extremely proud of our nominees.”

The nominees in 25 categories were selected by Ves members at 49 in-person and virtual panels around the world.

“Dune: Part Two” led all films in nominations for the 233 annual Ves Awards, the Visual Effects Society announced on Tuesday. Denis Villeneuve’s sci-fi epic received seven nominations in the Ves Awards’ eight non-animated feature film categories, followed by “Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes” with six, “Better Man” with four and “Mufasa: The Lion King” with three.

In the Outstanding Visual Effects in a Photoreal Feature category, the category that corresponds most closely to Best Visual Effects at the Oscars, the nominees were “Better Man,” “Dune: Part Two,” “Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes,” “Mufasa: The Lion King” and “Twisters.”

All 10 of the films on the Oscars’ Best Visual Effects shortlist received Ves nominations. In addition to the five nominees in the Ves Outstanding Visual Effects category, “Civil War” and “Gladiator II” received two nominations and “Alien: Romulus,” “Deadpool & Wolverine” and “Wicked” each received one.

The...

Netflix’s “Ultraman: Rising” serves as a reinvention and a reintroduction of the classic monster-battling character who first debuted on Japanese television in 1966. In the years since, Ultraman has shifted and changed until he’s now the star of his very own animated feature from writer-director Shannon Tindle.

In this version, our hero, Ken Sato (Christopher Sean), is reluctantly taking over the mantle of Ultraman from his aging father (Gedde Watanabe). And he’s got an even bigger conundrum when he is forced to raise the baby of a fallen kaiju that he had been fighting. “Ultraman: Rising” has some stunning action set pieces, breathlessly animated by Industrial Light & Magic in a style that evokes the original “Ultraman” series, along with classic anime, old tokusatsu movies and beloved manga. But the true magic of the movie lies in its underlying emotion and its themes of responsibility, family and animal rights.

Gold House has unveiled its fifth annual Gold List with “Wicked” and “Moana 2” among the films being honored.

The list spotlights the most exceptional achievements in film by Asian Pacific creatives over the past year. It also serves as a guide for awards voters and celebrates a monumental year for Asian Pacific representation in cinema.

Since its launch five years ago, the Gold List has celebrated an emerging tide of increasing representation in film by honoring over 200 Asian Pacific films and creatives, with many proceeding to receive Academy Awards. Among those films are “Everything Everywhere All At Once,” “Minari,” “Rrr,” “Parasite,” “The Boy and the Heron” and “The Elephant Whisperer.”

In a year when Asian Pacific creativity dominated the box office —”Moana 2″ and Jon M. Chu’s “Wicked” alone grossed over $1.2 billion globally — the Gold List celebrates these blockbusters alongside “All We Imagine As Light,” “Dìdi” and “Monkey Man.

There were two excellent yet very different kaiju movies released in 2024, and while Godzilla x Kong might have attracted the most attention, Netflix's Ultraman: Rising was arguably even better. The movie is an addition to the Ultraman franchise, which focuses on aliens called "ultras". Ultraman: Rising centers on Ken Sato, a professional baseball player who has inherited Ultraman's powers from his father, and would rather play sports than be a superhero. While Ultraman: Rising is a giant monster movie that has nothing to do with Godzilla, it contains a lot of kaiju action.

The Netflix movie sometimes has a similar tone to Son of Godzilla, as the reluctant Ken Sato a.k.a. Ultraman finds himself in charge of a mischievous baby kaiju. The Ultraman franchise has fans of all ages and Ultraman: Rising is a great pick for younger fans. That said, Ultraman: Rising is still the...

The nominees are in for the 52nd Annual Annie Awards, which celebrates the world of animation across 37 categories. Among the many nominees are Look Back —the adaptation of the one-shot by Chainsaw Man author Tatsuki Fujimoto—and Ultraman: Rising . Look Back was nominated in the Best Feature - Independent category. Ultraman: Rising was nominated for Best Feature, as well as Best FX - Feature, Best Production Design - Feature and Best Editorial - Feature. Last year saw Takeshi Honda win Best Character Animation - Feature for The Boy and the Heron , which also netted a Best Storyboarding - Feature award for Hayao Miyazaki. We'll find out who this year's winners are when the Annie Awards take place on Saturday, February 8, 2025 at UCLA’s Royce Hall in Los Angeles, California. Related: Look Back Anime Film Gets Worldwide Streaming Release on November 7 Kiyotaka Oshiyama ( Flip Flappers ) directs Look Back at Studio Durian.

DreamWorks Animation leads the 2025 Annie Awards feature competition with 10 nominations, including for best feature, best FX and best character animation, it was announced on Friday.

The top feature category saw nominations also handed out by the International Animated Film Society Asifa-Hollywood to DreamWorks Animation’s Kung Fu Panda 4, Pixar Animation Studios’ Inside Out 2, Locksmith Animation and Netflix’s That Christmas, Tsuburaya Productions/Netflix’s Ultraman: Rising and Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl, from Aardman and Netflix.

Based on Peter Brown’s bestselling middle-grade novel, Wild Robot from director Chris Sanders centers on Roz (voiced by Lupita Nyong’o), a robot marooned on a jungle-y island, as she meets an assortment of colorful anthropomorphic animals. They include a wry mama opossum (Catherine O’Hara), a mischievous fox (Pedro Pascal) and a small orphaned goose, voiced by Kit Connor.

The best indie animation feature category has entries for Chicken for Linda!, Flow,...

The Wild Robot continues to emerge as the animated feature to beat this season after leading the nominations for the 2025 Annie Awards.

The Universal Pictures film from DreamWorks Animation led the way with 10 nominations today, followed by Disney-Pixar’s record-breaking blockbuster Inside Out 2 and Netflix’s latest from Aardman, Wallace and Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl, with seven mentions apiece. All three films are up for Best Feature, joined by That Christmas, Kung Fu Panda 4, and Ultraman: Rising.

These awards are voted on by professional and patron members of Asifa-Hollywood who have two or more professional animation credits and contributed professional services over the last two years that contributed to animated projects. While this is a peer group award like the Oscars, but the Annie winners don’t always match the Motion Picture Academy’s.

In the last five years, the Annies and the Oscars only had two winners...

After collecting the Spark Award at last month’s IndieWire Honors, Chris Sanders now has further reason for celebration as his sci-fi adventure “The Wild Robot,” produced by Dreamworks Animation, has gone on to receive the most recognition from Asifa-Hollywood this year, earning 10 Annie Award nominations, including in the category of Best Feature and Best Direction. No other film came close to this number, though “Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl” from Aardman and Netflix and “Inside Out 2” from Pixar Animation were closest with 7 nominations each. “That Christmas” from Locksmith Animation and Netflix also fared pretty well, eking out 6 nominations, including in major categories like Best Feature.

The 52nd Annual Annie Awards will be held at UCLA’s Royce Hall on February 8, 2025 at 7:00 pm Pt. In addition to “The Wild Robot,” “Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl,” “Inside Out 2,” and “That Christmas,” others competing for the title...

There was only one heroic team that could take down “Deadpool & Wolverine” at the summer box office, and it was a bunch of spritely emotions inside a teenage girl’s head. But the $1.69 billion global box office haul of “Inside Out 2,” enough to make it the highest grossing animated film of all time, wasn’t an anomaly. In fact, there were six animated features in the global box office top 20 this year, with four titles in the top 10 as Universal/Illumination’s “Despicable Me 4,” Disney’s “Moana 2” and Universal/DreamWorks’ “Kung Fu Panda 4” joined “Inside Out 2” in feeling joy.

Even smaller films are finding success in this banner year for animation – “Flow,” from Janus and Sideshow, has made almost $5 million worldwide against a budget of less than $4 million in just a couple weeks of release, with $1.3 million of that tally coming from America.

And...

Love it or hate it, Netflix is still a dominating force in the streaming wars. As of 2024, the platform has 282 million paid subscribers worldwide, with roughly 96 million of those coming from North America alone. That means if you recommend a worthwhile Netflix original movie for someone to check out, there's a good chance they already have a subscription lined up to watch it. And recommendations can be so very crucial, as Netflix constantly cycles through movies and TV shows to the degree that it's easy for a real gem to get lost in the mix.

Many Netflix movies don't wind up in theaters at all, with a few noteworthy exceptions. That means there's typically a small window where a film can make an impact and get some buzz going before it's shifted out of the carousel at the top of the homepage. 2024 had a host of great Netflix originals, from...

Ultraman has been a prominent media franchise in Japan since the television series Ultra Q first premiered in 1966. Even from a distance, the character made an impact on a young Shannon Tindle growing up in rural Kentucky, who would go on to become the writer-director of Netflix’s animated Ultraman: Rising. Along with co-director John Aoshima, the pair brought out a new side of the kaiju fighting giant with a focus on caretaking rather than destruction.

The film follows Ken Sato (Christopher Sean), a baseball star who returns to Japan to take the mantle of Ultraman when his father retires. Though his brash and self-centered attitude doesn’t get him many fans, his outlook soon changes when he becomes the caretaker of Emi, a newborn kaiju.

Deadline had the opportunity to sit down with Tindle and Aoshima, as well as VFX supervisor Hayden Jones and composer Scot Stafford at Industrial...

The Academy has unveiled the list of feature films that are eligible for consideration in the animated feature, documentary feature Film, and international feature at the 2025 Oscars.

In animation, 31 films will vie for one of the five spots, including “The Wild Robot,” “Inside Out 2,” “Memoir of a Snail,” “Flow,” and “Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl.”

In documentary feature, 169 films are eligible. Among them are “No Other Land,” “Daughters,” “Martha,” “I Am: Celine Dion,” and “Dahomey,” which is Senegal’s submission for international feature.

In international feature, there are 85 hopefuls, including frontrunner “Emilia Pérez” (France), “I’m Still Here” (Brazil), “The Seed of the Sacred Fig” (Germany), “Kneecap” (Ireland), and “Flight 404” (Egypt).

The shortlists of 15 films for documentary and international features will be released on Tuesday, Dec. 17.

Oscar nominations will be announced on Friday, Jan. 17. The 97th Academy Awards, hosted by Conan O’Brien, will be held on Sunday, March 2 at 7 p.

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has pulled back the curtain on the films eligible for consideration in the Animated Feature, Documentary Feature and International Feature categories for the 97th Academy Awards next year.

The list includes 31 toon features, 169 docs and international pics from 85 countries. Preliminary voting for the 97th Oscars runs December 9-13, and all three shortlists will be revealed December 17. The Oscars will be handed out Sunday, March 2, at the Dolby Theater in Hollywood.

Here are the animated, documentary and international features eligible for the 2024 Oscars:

Best Animated Feature

Art College 1994

Captain Avispa

Chicken for Linda!

The Colors Within

The Day the Earth Blew Up: A Looney Tunes Movie

Despicable Me 4

Flow

The Garfield Movie

Ghost Cat Anzu

The Glassworker

The Imaginary

Inside Out 2

Kensuke’s Kingdom

Kung Fu Panda 4

Living Large

Look Back

The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim

Mars Express

Memoir of a Snail...

The Academy has unveiled its list of eligible films for the 97th Oscars in the animated, documentary, and international feature categories, spotlighting various blockbusters and critically lauded works. Submissions span major studios and independent filmmakers alike, and the competition promises to be one of the most competitive as films seek nominations.

A total of 31 animated feature films are in contention this year, including DreamWorks Animation’s “The Wild Robot,” IFC Films’ “Memoir of a Snail,” and Pixar’s “Inside Out 2,” which recently became the highest-grossing animated movie of all time. While this year’s number is slightly down from 33 submissions in 2023, it marks an increase from the 27 entries in 2022, reflecting a robust year for animation. Among the list also is Janus Film and Sideshow’s “Flow,” which will also compete in the international feature race for Latvia.

Nominees in the Animated Feature category are determined by the Academy’s Animation Branch members,...

There are 31 animated films, 85 international films and 169 documentaries competing in the 2024 Oscar races for Best Animated Feature, Best International Feature Film and Best Documentary Feature, the Academy announced on Thursday.

In the animated feature category, contenders include “Flow,” “Inside Out 2,” “Memoir of a Snail,” “Piece by Piece,” “The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rorhirrim,” “Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl” and “The Wild Robot.”

In the international category, the list includes “Emilia Perez,” “The Seed of the Sacred Fig” and “I’m Still Here.” The list of eligible films was reported exclusively by TheWrap in October.

In documentaries, the field includes “Sugarcane,” “Dahomey,” “No Other Land,” “Soundtrack to a Coup d’Etat,” “Black Box Diaries” and “Daughters,” among many others.

In all three categories, Academy members are given lists of films that are required viewing, but are eligible to view and vote for films outside their lists as...

A total of 31 animated features, 169 documentary features and 85 international features are eligible for Oscar nominations this season, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences confirmed on Thursday.

In the animated feature category, high-profile studio films like Disney/Pixar’s Inside Out 2 and Universal/DreamWorks’s The Wild Robot and acclaimed indies like Memoir of a Snail are joined in the running by longer shots like The Day the Earth Blew Up: A Looney Tunes Movie, a film jettisoned by Warner Bros. that wound up with the distributor Ketchup Entertainment.

The documentary feature race, meanwhile, includes titles that have dominated at the doc community’s precursor awards, including Nat Geo’s Sugarcane, Netflix’s Daughters and MTV’s Black Box Diaries; two that count Malala Yousafzai as an executive producer, Apple’s Bread & Roses and The Last of the Sea Women, and two that count Jennifer Lawrence as an EP,...

The animation team behind Netflix’s “Ultraman: Rising” held a recent press event at Skywalker Sound and Industrial Light & Magic, giving a behind-the-scenes look at the complex work that went into directors Shannon Tindle and John Aoshima‘s film about Ken Sato, a superstar baseball player who returns to Japan to become the latest hero to carry the mantle of Ultraman. Ken’s world gets complicated when he is compelled to raise a newborn kaiju monster, the offspring of his greatest enemy, as his own child.

Visual effects supervisor Hayden Jones and composer Scot Stafford each sat down with Gold Derby to discuss their work on the film. Watch the video interviews above.

Jones won an Emmy for his work on “The Mandalorian” in 2020, and explains how the challenges of VFX in animation are different than live action. “It’s scope and scale,” he says. “You have to build absolutely...

With Ultraman: Rising,” animator-turned-director Shannon Tindle combined his love of the superhero anime franchise with a parenting drama wrapped around Ilm’s dazzling 2D animated look drawn from manga and anime.

It all comes together in an epic water battle involving Ultraman (Christopher Sean), Ultradad (Gedde Watanabe), and baby Kaiju, Emi. First Ultraman and Emi fight Mecha Gigangtron, only to discover that the real Gigantron (Emi’s mom) is still alive underneath. She then joins Ultradad as part of a foursome to fight Dr. Onda, head of the Kaiju Defense Force, who commands the robotic Destroyer.

Tindle, who participated in a recent press confab at Skywalker Ranch and Ilm in San Francisco, told IndieWire that his choice of water for the climactic battle was purely economical. He couldn’t afford to destroy a city and crowds. “I knew that I could make it on the water, and it would allow...

It took everything I had not to raise my hands in the air as if riding the front car of a rollercoaster as our shuttle bobbed and weaved through the winding stretch of Lucas Valley Road. With each farmhouse and animal enclosure we passed, I felt more and more lightheaded. It could have been the increase in altitude, but likely, we were on our way to one of the most historic retreats in Hollywood, Skywalker Ranch. I could not think of a better place to learn about Ultraman: Rising, an animated film honoring its title character’s legacy and cinematic history.

What is Ultraman: Rising about before we get into the nitty-gritty? The story centers on baseball star Ken Sato, who reluctantly returns home to take on the mantle of Ultraman. But the titanic superhero meets his match when he is forced to adopt a 35-foot-tall, fire-breathing baby Kaiju, Emi.

Will an animated movie ever win Best Picture at the Oscars? It’s a question many people have asked ever since Disney’s “Beauty and the Beast” became the first nominated in the prestigious category 32 years ago. Since then, just two more have been nominated: “Up” in 2010 and “Toy Story 3” in 2011.

In 2020, “Parasite” made history as the first international film to win Best Picture. The victory for director Bong Joon-ho‘s South Korean thriller was a sign that the Academy’s concerted effort to become more diverse had paid off, resulting in new possibilities for what kind of film could claim Hollywood’s top prize.

SEEOscar Best Animated Feature gallery: Every winner in Academy Awards history

In a recent interview with Gold Derby, “Ultraman: Rising” directors Shannon Tindle and John Aoshima discussed why there hasn’t been an animated Best Picture winner yet, and if they think they’ll...

Ultraman: Rising continues the beloved Ultraman universe that first began in the 1960s, with the new Netflix original treading new ground in terms of visuals and storytelling. The film has set itself apart as an original kaiju movie that focuses more on the protection of the giant creatures than battling them, after new protagonist Ken Sato discovers an egg of a baby Gigantron that imprints on him as its parent. The film is directed by duo Shannon Tindle and John Aoshima, who previously collaborated on the 2016 release Kubo and the Two Strings.

Rising marks the introduction of Sato, who's only recently taken up the Ultraman mantle from his father, and must navigate his heroic duty with the duty he has to his own family and Emi. The film has received critical praise for its visual direction, much of which was spearheaded by VFX supervisor Hayden Jones. Jones is an industry veteran in effects,...

Released earlier this summer, Ultraman: Rising is the latest in a long line of takes on the Ultraman franchise. First beginning with the series Ultra Q in 1966, the IP has seen a myriad of shows, movies, comics, and other adaptations since. The newest Netflix film has introduced a new hero to the Ultraman universe, Ken Sato, who takes over the Ultraman hero position from his father.

Ultraman: Rising has incorporated many unique ideas into the new entry, from its family-forward plot line - which surrounds Ken raising a baby kaiju named Emi - to its eclectic soundtrack. The films music, which comes from composer Scot Stafford, incorporates everything from 8-bit musicality to Taiko drums across its score. Previously, Stafford has worked on projects like the miniseries Lost Ollie and the television show Trash Truck.

Related Ultraman: Rising Ending & Post-Credits Scene Explained

Ultraman: Rising ends on a cliffhanger after...

Ultraman: Rising is the latest in a long line of media from the IP, however, the new Netflix take on the series doesnt require viewers to know an immense amount of lore to enjoy it. It introduces brand-new protagonist Ken Sato, who takes over the Ultraman mantle from his father. The newest comes from co-directors Shannon Tindle and John Aoshima, who previously collaborated together on the 2016 film Kubo and the Two Strings.

Though many projects in the Ultraman franchise have focused on fighting kaiju, Rising focuses more on their protection. After a fight with the kaiju Gigantron, Ken discovers a newly hatched baby of the same creature, which imprints on him as a parent. This family focus of Ultraman: Rising - both when it comes to raising the kaiju Emi and Kens relationships with other characters in the film - serves it well, earning the film critical praise for its...

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Ultraman: Rising follows Ken Sato, an all-star baseball player, who must return home to Tokyo and take on the mantle of Ultraman and save the day. When he finds a fire-breathing baby kaiju, he adopts her, and must learn to balance fatherhood and being a hero. The film is extremely relatable for working parents, and is filled with action and heartwarming, emotional moments.

Christopher Sean voices Sato in the film, but is no stranger to voice acting, having been featured in several video games including Fallout 76 and Marvel's Avengers. He is also known for his role as Paul Narita in Days of Our Lives and also voices Kaz in Star Wars: Resistance. Ultraman: Rising is now streaming on Netflix and is a strong awards contender.

Related Ultraman: Rising Composer Scot Stafford On Making A Classic Film Score Using Video Game Consoles...

As James Gunn's DC Universe is on the horizon, a DC actor wants to land the Nightwing role in the new franchise. Multiple DC Universe Chapter 1: "Gods and Monsters" movies and TV shows are in the works at DC Studios, marking a new era for Warner Bros. Discovery with their DC IPs. On the small screen, Creature Commandos will kick off the DC Universe in December, while the Superman movie arrives in theaters next year as the first proper film from Gunn's continuity.

Screen Rant recently chatted with Christopher Sean at New York Comic Con for Netflix's Ultraman: Rising, who was asked if the superhero genre would be something he would want to explore further. Sean, who is no stranger to the DC brand as he voiced Nightwing in the Gotham Knights video game, shared that he would love to take part in Gunn's DC Universe as Dick Grayson,...

In the 23 years since the Best Animated Feature category was introduced at the Oscars, Pixar has dominated, racking up an impressive 11 wins from 18 nominations; its last victory was in 2021 for “Soul.” Walt Disney Studios has four trophies to show for its lucky 13 nominations while DreamWorks has gone 2 for 14, including the first-ever Oscar awarded for Best Animated Feature, which went to “Shrek.” Studio Ghibli also has a pair of prizes, and is the reigning champ with “The Boy and the Heron.” (Scroll down for the most up-to-date 2025 Oscar predictions for Best Animated Feature.)

That marked the second win for Japanese auteur Hayao Miyazaki, who had prevailed for “Spirited Away” 22 years earlier. Miyazaki crafted the only two hand-drawn movies to win this race. Two stop-motion flicks — “Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit” and “Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio” — have prevailed. The other 19 winners were all done with CGI.

Updated: October 10, 2024

Leading...

“Dune: Part Two,” “Inside Out 2” and “The Creator” lead the feature nominations for this year’s Hollywood Professional Association (Hpa) Awards with three apiece. The awards will be presented during a Nov. 7 gala at the Television Academy in North Hollywood.

“Dune: Part Two” was nominated in the categories for color grading, editing and sound; “The Creator,” for color grading, sound and visual effects; and “Inside Out 2” for color grading in an animation feature, sound, and VFX in an animated feature. The eligibility period runs from September to September.

As previously announced, during the ceremony FotoKem will receive the Charles S. Swartz Award for industry contributions. Adobe, Disguise, Cuebric and Evercast will be honored for engineering excellence.

The list of nominees follows:

Outstanding Color Grading – Live Action Theatrical Feature

“Blink Twice” — Damien Vandercruyssen // Harbor

“The Creator” — David Cole // FotoKem

“Dune: Part Two” — David Cole // FotoKem

“Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga...

“Transformers One,” the animated reboot from Paramount/Hasbro and director Josh Cooley (“Toy Story 4”), leverages the format as never before with a brand new handmade look and an emphasis on emotional performance that helps us better connect with the robots. Also, transformations are key as homages to the original toys and the ’80s G1 cartoon series, with every piece of the robot having a corresponding place on the vehicle.

This plays into the origin story of Cybertron and the roots of its destruction by focusing on the friendship between lowly miners Orion Pax (Chris Hemsworth) and D-16 (Brian Tyree Henry). They eventually transform into the legendary Autobots Optimus Prime and Megatron, only to become bitter enemies divided by optimism and anger.

Ilm was tasked with the animation (only its third feature following “Ultraman: Rising” and the Oscar-winning “Rango”), overseen by VFX supervisor Frazer Churchill and animation supervisor Stephen King.

Netflix unveiled the first big data dump of 2024 on Thursday, and the engagement report for everything watched in the first half of the year proved that subscribers really love three things: Millie Bobby Brown, sharks and animated movies.

Some of the data points were unsurprising – we knew Brown’s “Damsel” was a huge hit, and indeed it was the most-watched film for the first half of the year. But others were interesting, like just how heavily Netflix’s streaming partnership with Universal factors into what’s being watched and the relative success of Zack Snyder’s “Rebel Moon” films.

Below, we thumb through the biggest winners on the film side of the data dump.

Millie Bobby Brown and “Damsel” Millie Bobby Brown in “Damsel” (Netflix)

Netflix has invested heavily in “Stranger Things” star Brown’s career over the last few years, picking up “Enola Holmes” (in which she stars and...

“Ultraman: Rising” is coming to LightBox Expo.

LightBox Expo, “a three-day entertainment industry event that brings together creatives to ignite a shared passion for art,” happens every year at the Pasadena Convention Center. This year, it is being held Oct. 25-27, and on Saturday, Oct. 26, Netflix will present “Ultraman: Rising” – Reimagining an Icon, based on their recent animated feature.

According to the official panel description, it will feature “writer/director Shannon Tindle, co-director John Aoshima, production designer Marcos Mateu Mestre and art director Sunmin Inn as they dive deep into the passion, heart and artistry behind reimagining a legendary character. Learn how this visionary team blended breathtaking animation with human storytelling to re-envision this iconic character for audiences new and old.”

“Ultraman: Rising” was released this summer on Netflix, following a world premiere at the Annecy International Animation Film Festival in France. It follows Ken Sato (voiced by Christopher Sean...

"Transformers One" is the best movie in the "Transformers" franchise since the 1986 original. Director Josh Cooley ("Toy Story 4") and co-writer Eric Pearson ("Thor Ragnarok" "Godzilla vs. Kong") are experienced in big dramatic stories set in established franchises that appeal to nostalgia but are more than just walks down memory lane; movies that tell big and bombastic stories without becoming empty spectacle.

"Transformers One" takes us back, way before Sam Witwicky, before Optimus Prime arrived on Earth, even longer before Cybertron was destroyed. This is a time before Autobots and Decepticons, when Transformers didn't even have the ability to transform, but instead lived underground after a war ravaged the surface of their planet. The film tells the origin story of Optimus Prime, at this time known as Orion Pax (Chris Hemsworth) and Megatron, known back then as D-16 (Brian Tyree Henry). Before they became archenemies, the two were like brothers,...

So far in 2024, Netflix movies have been off to a thrilling start with hit titles such as Damsel, Atlas, A Family Affair, and The Union. But the year isn't over yet! To finish out an excellent year of movies, Netflix announced its full slate of fall movies on Aug. 28, and we can look forward to even more hot titles of every genre, from horror to holiday, featuring some of the biggest stars.

Among the biggest and most-anticipated titles on the horizon include Joey King's dystopian sci-fi flick Uglies, which also stars Outer Banks favorite Chase Stokes; horror movies like It's What's Inside, Don't Move, and Time Cut; Anna Kendrick's directorial debut Woman of the Hour; and a full slate of Christmas rom-coms starring Lindsay Lohan, Lacey Chabert, and Christina Milian.

More and more release dates for Netflix movies coming this year have been announced, and below we’ve...

And so it begins.

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has signaled the beginning of the race for the 97th annual Academy Awards, which will take place on Sunday, March 2, 2025.

The Academy Screening Room made its first titles available Friday to membership, with Thelma from Magnolia Pictures; Shirley, Hit Man and the animated Ultraman: Rising all from Netflix; plus Wildcat released by Oscilloscope Laboratories on the platform. That list is sure to grow much bigger as the nascent season moves along. The cost, as of last season, is $20,000 for studio movies, and $8,000 for those from the indie sector.

Thelma is a comedy starring 94-year-old June Squibb as a grandmother who becomes victimized by an internet money scam preying on the elderly and decides to take matters into her own hands. Magnolia hopes to grab Oscar voters’ attention for Squibb’s performance, and also in the Golden Globes Comedy...

Paramount/Hasbro Entertainment dropped the second trailer for “Transformers One” July 25, following its San Diego Comic-Con premiere. The first animated feature reboot from director Josh Cooley (“Toy Story 4”) explores the untold origin story of Autobots on planet Cybertron before Michael Bay’s post-apocalyptic live-action franchise. We learn about the early friendship between Orion Pax (Chris Hemsworth) and D-16 (Brian Tyree Henry) prior to becoming bitter enemies as the legendary Optimus Prime and infamous Megatron.

Orion and D-16 are hard-working, frustrated miners, who drill underground for Energon (the source of energy storage and power generation) during a sustained drought. However, they dream of joining the elite team of Autobots led by Sentinel Prime (Jon Hamm). What Cooley brings to the franchise through animation is greater emotion, humor, and stylization, thanks to the talented team at Ilm (led by VFX supervisor Frazer Churchill and animation supervisor Rob Coleman) and an appealing voice cast,...

HBO’s House of the Dragon hit its highest mark to date in Nielsen’s streaming ratings for June 17-23.

The series racked up 1.23 billion minutes of viewing on Max for the week after its season two premiere (and including a few hours of viewing for the second episode on June 23). HotD‘s previous best showing was 1.02 billion minutes midway through its first season. Streaming figures for the show don’t include linear viewing on HBO.

The 1.23 billion minutes for House of the Dragon placed it fourth overall for the week, behind repeat leader Bridgerton (2.47 billion minutes), Your Honor (1.95 billion) and Prime Video’s The Boys (1.29 billion). About 60 percent of Bridgerton’s total came from the final four episodes of season three, which premiered June 13. Former Showtime series Your Honor also continued to build, growing by 3 percent week to week on Netflix and Paramount+. The Boys improved as well, adding...

Ultraman: Rising's cliffhanger sets the stage for a potential sequel with Ken receiving a message from Nebula M78. The post-credits scene presents a significant sequel hook involving Ken's missing mother. Ultraman: Rising captivates with its unique take on Ultraman, family dynamics, and engaging action sequences.

Ultraman: Rising, Netflixs animated movie about the iconic superhero, needs a sequel after a major cliffhanger ending. There have been dozens of Ultraman films and shows in the past 58 years, from the Ultra Q series in 1966 to Netflixs Ultraman movie. Ultraman: Rising took place in its own universe and introduced the new Ultraman Ken Sato alongside his father, a previous Ultraman now referred to as Ultradad. While nothing has been said about a sequel, I believe Ultraman: Risings ending is the perfect setup for a second movie.

It is uncommon for Tokusatsu franchises to get the animation treatment, so I was very excited about getting an animated Ultraman movie.

The creators behind Hollywood’s latest and upcoming animated projects, including “Inside Out 2,” “Transformers One” and more, were celebrated at Variety‘s 10 Animators to Watch. The event and cocktail reception, presented by Nickelodeon, were held at The Aster in Hollywood on July 10.

Variety Senior Awards Editor Clayton Davis kicked off the ceremony by introducing Josh Cooley, director of “Toy Story 4” and the upcoming “Transformers One,” who presented Paramount Animation and Nickelodeon Animation President Ramsey Naito with the inaugural Executive Impact in Animation award.

“[Ramsey] understands the power of giving filmmakers the freedom to make creative decisions,” Cooley said. “Her no house style approach also allows creators to build distinct immersive visual worlds and allows us to take creative swings so we can all tell inspiring, meaningful and creative stories.”

Naito accepted her award and said she loves animation because of its unique challenges: limitless possibilities, the ability to...

“First time in a long time I didn’t hear any buzz at all about a July 4th blockbuster movie,” a friend texted me last week. His message struck me as odd, since I can’t turn a corner without being bombarded by mutant Minions: The yellow pranksters keep showing up on billboards, product tie-ins, pop-up ads. My friend is engaged to be married, with a baby on the way, but he’s not a parent yet, and he’s clearly not thinking like one.

The reality is this: The weekend that once belonged to Will Smith — and which hosted a geriatric Indiana Jones’ return last year — has long been the domain of “Despicable Me” movies. For seven of the last 14 years, Illumination Entertainment has planted one of its toon tentpoles (which also include “The Secret Life of Pets”) on or immediately after Independence Day weekend. Their latest behemoth,...

The Jennifer Lopez romantic comedy Marry Me has become a global Netflix hit. Marry Me landed at No. 4 on Netflix's global weekly chart for English language movies. This streaming success could help boost Lopez after recent concert cancellations.

Marry Me has become a global Netflix hit. The movie, which earned $50.5 million at the box office when it premiered in 2022, stars Jennifer Lopez as Kat Valdez, a pop star whose collaborator and fianc cheats on her shortly before their televised wedding, so she decides to accept what she thinks is a proposal from a math teacher (Owen Wilson) in the audience. The Marry Me cast also includes Maluma, John Bradley, Chloe Coleman, Sarah Silverman, Utkarsh Ambudkar, and Michelle Buteau.

Netflix has now calculated their global chart of the Top 10 most-watched English language movies for the week of June 24 through June 30. Marry Me has landed at No. 4 thanks to 4.3 million viewers accumulating...

Zac Efron & Nicole Kidman’s A Family Affair Debuts At #1 On Netflix’s Weekly Top 10. (Photo Credit – Instagram)

It is that time of the week again when Netflix brings out its weekly global top 10 films list. This week, some first-timers and some old ones have returned for the umpteenth time. But Zac Efron and Nicole Kidman’s rom-com, A Family Affair, has debuted at the top spot on this weekly chart for June 24-June 30.

Last week, Trigger Warning was at the top with 25.7 million views, but this week, it has dropped from its ruling position. Meanwhile, Hitman, led by Glen Powell, and Tom Cruise’s Mission: Impossible—Dead Reckoning Part One have been pushed out of the list. Keanu Reeves’ action-packed drama John Wick is a new entry on the list, along with DC’s The Flash. Keep scrolling for more.

Zac Efron and Nicole Kidman’s movie A Family Affair...