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Neopets The Movie - Pre-release Info
WB Bringing NeoPets to the Big Screen
Source: Warner Bros. Pictures and
http://www.comingsoon.net
March 24, 2005
Warner Bros. Pictures has entered into an agreement with NeoPets, Inc.® to
develop and produce animated feature films based on new and existing stories and
characters from the virtual world of Neopets.com, the world's leading online
youth community. The announcement was made today by Jeff Robinov, President,
Production, Warner Bros. Pictures, and Doug Dohring, Chairman and Chief
Executive Officer, NeoPets, Inc.
Dylan Sellers will produce the projects with Dohring; Warner Bros. Pictures'
Aditya Sood will oversee production for the Studio. NeoPets, Inc. will
co-finance development.
The Neopets website is themed around the ownership of, and interaction with,
virtual pets that are created and cared for by site members. To date, the
Neopets website has more than 25 million members worldwide and generates more
than seven billion page views per month in 10 languages. It is consistently
ranked as one of the fastest growing sites on the Internet and one of the
"stickiest" sites in the world, meaning that members return frequently to
interact with each other and with their Neopets.
Said Robinov, "We're looking forward to expanding this exceptional Internet
property into feature films that bring the worldwide appeal of this website to
theaters."
Added Dohring, "Neopets has always been very selective in choosing its business
partners and we are extremely pleased with the opportunity to work with such a
quality studio as Warner Bros. Pictures. We are confident that this
collaboration will result in the successful expansion of the Neopets world into
offline media."
Recent productions by Dylan Sellers include Warner Bros. Pictures' A
Cinderella Story starring Hilary Duff; and Agent Cody Banks and its
sequel Agent Cody Banks 2: Destination London.
NeoPets goes Hollywood
Source: http://news.com.com/
Published: March 24, 2005, 5:45 PM PST
By Stefanie Olsen
Staff Writer, CNET News.com
Pretend-pets from the Web are headed for the big screen.
NeoPets, the wildly popular virtual-pet site, said Thursday that it has signed a
multiple-picture deal with Warner Bros. Pictures, one of the five major film
studios.
Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
The studio has agreed to produce computer-animated feature films based on
NeoPets characters such as Flotsam and Jetsam.
To own a NeoPet, people log on to NeoPets.com, select a virtual animal, and tend
to it by earning points through contests and games. The company reports roughly
25 million pet owners worldwide.
The deal comes as Hollywood and Web companies are cinching closer ties. Sites
including Yahoo, Google and America Online are courting studios and broadcasters
and winning new deals to distribute their entertainment via the Web. And
Hollywood is showing more interest in tapping the Web's popularity for marketing
and development material.
AOL said Thursday that it has licensed its original Webisode, or online serial
animation, called "Princess Natasha," for television reproduction on Cartoon
Network, a cable channel owned by AOL's parent Time Warner. Also, Little, Brown
Books for Young Readers will publish two books based on the Princess series in
May 2006.
Earlier in March, NeoPets also signed a deal with In-Fusio to bring the
virtual-pet game to mobile phones. Popular with young girls, NeoPets is ranked
the top toys and games site, measured by the amount of time kids spend with it,
according to Nielsen NetRatings. |
