How many FX companies does it take to make an Avatar?

From CNet.com:

SAN FRANCISCO--About a year ago, with James Cameron's science-fiction epic "Avatar" well under way, it became clear that Weta Digital, the visual effects studio doing much of the computer generated imagery, or CGI, on the project, was a bit in over its head.

At that point, the movie, which opened Friday, was about 40 minutes longer than it ended up being, and what was needed to finish the project was another company that could come in and lend a helping hand--and do so at the same, very high level, that Weta was working at.

And that's where Industrial Light & Magic came in, recalled John Knoll, the Oscar-winning visual effects supervisor tasked with parachuting in to help finish what was, more than on most films, the crucial job of crafting the "Avatar" CGI work.

Predators keeps getting better

From JoBlo.com:

Got a little casting news from the PREDATORS set in Austin today. We didn't get to see him, but the awesome Laurence Fishburne will be playing the role of Noland. Can't tell you a damn thing about the character, but I think it's safe to say that he's going to kick some serious ass. We'll tell you more the second they lift the embargo. And believe me, I can't wait to spill! In case you're living under a rock, PREDATORS is being produced by Robert Rodriguez and directed by Nimrod Antal. The cast includes Adrian Brody, Topher Grace, Alice Braga, Danny Trejo , Derek Mears, Walton Goggins. The script is a reworking of the one Rodriguez wrote in the mid-nineties.

Portman to Star in Pride and Prejudice and Zombies!

From Comingsoon.net:

Natalie Portman will star in and produce Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, a film that is based on the best-selling book written by Seth Grahame-Smith and Jane Austen. Variety says that Lionsgate will finance and distribute.

Described as an expanded version of the Austen classic, the book tells the timeless story of a woman's quest for love and independence amid the outbreak of a deadly virus that turns the undead into vicious
killers.

Portman will play feisty heroine Elizabeth Bennet, who is distracted from her quest to eradicate the zombie menace by the arrival of the arrogant Mr. Darcy.