(20 July 2005 2:00 pm)

MUMBAI: Hollywood movie studio Columbia Pictures has announced that it will release the film Monster House in July 2006. What makes this film unique is that it will be only the second film after The Polar Express to employ the Performance Capture innovation developed by Sony Pictures Imageworks.

The difficult technique captures the facial movements of the stars that do voiceovers for characters in an animated film. In the US the film will also be released in more than 100 theaters in Real D's digital 3-D forma at the same time as the 2D release. Sony Pictures president domestic distribution Rory Bruer says, "Monster House is the perfect film for REAL D's innovative technology. It literally adds another dimension to the filmgoing experience and enhances the film's entertainment value."

Sony Pictures Imageworks president Tim Sarnoff said, "As a leader in visual effects and character animation, we are constantly developing new technologies to enable filmmakers to tell their stories. Real D Cinema truly enables a movie-goer to experience a film versus just watching it and we look forward to working with them on such an exciting project."

The animated Monster House tells the tale about three kids who must battle with a mysterious home that is determined to eat every trick or treater in sight on Halloween. Steve Buscemi, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Kevin James, and Jason Lee are among the stars who have lent their voices to the endeavour.