We'll Miss Ya, Bill!

FYI- The last episode of Politically Incorrect airs this Friday!

Fox Thaws 'Ice Age' Home Video Plan

Fox is mounting a glacier-sized promotional push for the Nov. 26 video release of "Ice Age," the studio's biggest animated film ever.

The $85 million marketing campaign for one of the top 10 animated films of all time exceeds anything Fox has created for a video release, including its bigger theatrical hits like "Home Alone."

Fox executives believe the 81-minute "Ice Age" could match or surpass the studio's best-selling titles, "Independence Day" and "Star Wars: Episode I -- The Phantom Menace," which each have sold about 18 million copies each.

And while all the talk in recent days has been Disney's economically produced "Lilo & Stitch," which cost about $80 million, Fox Filmed Entertainment chairman Tom Rothman said "Ice Age" was made for considerably less than that by Fox-owned Blue Sky Studios.

That savings on production costs "lets us put a lot of media support behind the picture," Rothman said.

It also meant Fox could let Blue Sky follow a pattern with computer-animated movies that began with DreamWorks' "Shrek" last year and continues Sept. 17 with Disney's "Monsters, Inc." Blue Sky created a new five-minute CGI short especially for the VHS and double-disc DVD versions of "Ice Age." (Blue Sky is working on its next CGI movie for Fox called "Robots," due out in 2004, with a sequel to "Ice Age" to follow.)

The short, "Scrat's Missing Adventure," features the picture's rodent star attempting to put a nut in the one remaining spot in a tree with thousands of other nuts when the ground shifts, sparking a global impact that shapes the future of the planet. Scrat will be the centerpiece of the promo campaign.

Other extras on the DVD (suggested retail price $29.98) are six deleted scenes, commentary from co-directors Carlos Saldanha and Chris Wedge and Wedge's Oscar-winning short "Bunny."

In "Ice Age," the surprise hit of the winter at theaters -- it had a record March opening weekend of $46.3 million and went on to gross $175 million -- Fox is capitalizing on a product that was not oversaturated in the market during its theatrical run, according to Mike Dunn, Fox video executive VP sales and marketing.

Fox has recruited 14 promotional partners for the video, including Papa Johns, Coca-Cola, Dole, Carl's Jr., Hardees, Microsoft, Bloomingdale's and the National Hockey League.

Here They Come Again, For The Umpteenth Time

You knew it was coming, now here it is. MGM has announced the first wave of new Bond reissues to tie in with the Thanksgiving release of the new Bond big-screen epic, Die Another Day. Arriving on 10/22 is The Bond Collection Volume 1 (version 2.0?). This 7-disc set features the mismatched assortment of Dr. No, Goldfinger, Man with the Golden Gun, Spy Who Loved Me, Licence To Kill, GoldenEye and Tomorrow Never Dies.

(Here's an idea for MGM - why not just release The Connery Collection, The Moore Collection, and a third set with all the rest!?) The set will knock you back $124.95 list, and each disc will also be available separately for $19.95 a pop.

Now, is there anything new in this collection? Actually, no.

Whether that's good news or bad news is up to the fans, but tech specs and features are all exactly the same as the previous Bond releases, right down to the same ugly packaging.

MGM will be releasing two more sets of these Bond classics through next spring, when the latest Bond adventure will hit DVD. While I'm sure many would have liked to have seen something new on these sets (DTS tracks, anyone?), but just as many who missed the original sets the first time around will probably be pleased nonetheless.

GO FIGURE

Bruce Willis is reprising his role as a hit man in a sequel to his 2000 crime comedy, The Whole Nine Yards. Matthew Perry and Amanda Peet will also be back.

The movie starts shooting October 4 in Los Angeles. FYI- The original was shot in Montreal.

ABSOLUTELY OGRE-RIFFIC!

John Cleese joining the cast of Shrek 2, assuming the voice of Princess Fiona's father. The sequel is due out in 2004.

Shania Twain Back In The Studio

Uber- babe Shania Twain is once again working on her upcoming album with her producer husband Mutt Lange in their Swiss studio.

"Shania's album is currently in the works and is tentatively scheduled for release later this fall with a single released to radio prior to the album," the singer's record label said. "No official dates have been set at this time."

If it all pans out and Twain's first studio album in five years does come out this fall, the new work will be released amidst long-awaited releases from other country superstars like Faith Hill and the Dixie Chicks.