Universal Pictures' and Chris and Paul Weitz's Depth of Field production company has optioned Michael Moorcock's epic series of fantasy novels, The Elric Saga .

Jerry Ringi of Amazing Fantasy in Chesapeake, Virginia saw new retailer Noah Broessel's comments on Marvel's policies and had this to say.

Diamond's new bookstore division has been busy adding all sorts of smaller and medium-sized publishers to its roster. Prominent among the new additions is the Checker Book Publishing Group of Dayton, Ohio.

The Spider-Man DVD is due November 1, and retailers across the country are planning for how they can tie into what could be the biggest DVD release of all time.

MGM has licensed three properties, Stargate SG-1 , Species , and Robocop to Avatar Press. The three properties involved started on the big screen, and then migrated to television before getting a chance at four-color immortality.

Friday's Variety reported that the Fox-based Regency Enterprises has acquired the movie rights to Doug TenNapel's graphic novel, Creature Tech .

Warner Brothers Consumer Products Division announced that McFarlane Toys has received the master toy license for the second and third installments of The Matrix Trilogy --- The Matrix Reloaded and The Matrix Revolutions -- as well as rights to the original Matrix film.

Dreamworks, the studio that thanks to recent successes such as Shrek and Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron is challenging Disney's supremacy in animation, has obtained the theatrical, home video and ancillary rights to the anime film Millenium Actress .

Dark Horse Comics announced its comic series based on the rock band Kiss at last year's San Diego Comicon without a lot of fanfare. After all, Image's Kiss: The Psycho Circus comic had sort of just faded away and expectations for Dark Horse's book were not very high. Well a year later, Gene Simmons, the tongue-wielding bassist and driving force behind Kiss licensing, will be back at San Diego, and he will be touting Dark Horse's number one comic for July.

Now comes word that Mattel has licensed a He-Man & the Masters of the Universe comic as well as notification that a new He-Man cartoon series will debut on the Cartoon Network in August.