Studio Update: Olympics Schmolympics Results, Johnny Thunder 3 Still Filming, Zoo Flight Development Almost Over, etc.

By: Andrew Bermudez

(Lego Studios; September 12, 2012)

     Another month is almost half-over, and with that comes another studio update! We've got filming updates, contest results, a new Halloween promotion, and other interesting news! Let's dive in!

     The Nightly News at Nine's Olympics Schmolympics contest is now over and the results are now in. Seth Masterson vs. Shark Hoops did not win, but did get an honorable mention. As for the winners, congratulations and enjoy your prizes. Click here to watch all of the entries; the first one is the grand prize winner.

     Speaking of contests, there are two more to talk about. Ending on September 30th is the Vacation: Unlimited Scrapbook Contest, which is being called by some LEGO Studios employees as "the forgotten contest." "We started this contest back in July, but we've only gotten one entry," stated Seth Masterson. "This is actually funny, since we expected this contest to do better than the animation contest from the spring. After all, who could resist the digital prize? We don't even need any addresses this time!" Regardless, it is expected that more entries will come in by the end of the month.

     On another note, the Kitchen Sink contest entry, Late for the Soccer Match, is almost done, editing-wise. However, due to other matters, that has slowed down. Mark Matthew blames this on the 7+ other projects that the studio is developing, which includes Johnny Thunder and the Wisdom of the Ancients and a proposed animated web series (which has nothing to do with Freddy and Joey). However, there are other factors that are playing into this slowing of progress, but are unimportant.

     In other news, to celebrate Halloween, Forest of Fear will have a week-long 3-D engagement from October 28th through November 3rd. That week only, the film will have 3-D options available, so you can watch it in 3-D. However, when the week ends, the 3-D will disabled, which won't return until it gets its permanent 3-D options in October 2013.

     Meanwhile in London, filming for Johnny Thunder and the Wisdom of the Ancients continues. "We're almost done filming in London," said director Steven Lawrence. "After we're done here, we're then going out to a replica of Stonehenge, since there's things that we need to do in that sequence that we can't do at the actual monument." Johnny Thunder and the Wisdom of the Ancients comes out in 2014.

     If you want something that is going to come out a little sooner, then look no further than Zoo Flight, which now has a release time. "This game will come out Holiday 2012," said Steve Brocko, head of the traditional and CGI animation department. "We were having trouble with the programming, but now we know what to do to get around that." In addition, this department will be working on new traditional and CGI animations for the same time period as well as CGI effects for Johnny Thunder and the Wisdom of the Ancients.

     We close with a note that 2013 is going to be a quiet year for us. We'll let you know in our annual yearly recap what we have in store for next year (beyond The Film School Challenge, of course).