05.4.2009 | By Mack Chico |
“City Island,” an ensemble pic set in a semi-obscure area of the Bronx, captured the Heineken Audience Award at the Tribeca Film Festival.
The film, which world-preemed at Tribeca, stars Andy Garcia, Julianna Margulies, Alan Arkin and Emily Mortimer. It’s a family comedy about the foibles of the Rizzo clan.
Director Raymond De Felitta will receive a cash prize of $25,000 for the audience honor.
04.29.2009 | By Mack Chico |
What the hell is happening in Mexico?! This swine flu is killing financial opportunities for many companies in the entertainment industry.
Paramount is calling off the May 8 launch of “Star Trek” in Mexico because of the swine flu epidemic, while Sony is debating whether to do the same with sequel “Angels and Demons.”
J.J. Abrams‘ “Star Trek” will open day and date in other major territories May 8.
“Angels,” the follow-up to “The Da Vinci Code,” is opening around the world May 15.
Twentieth Century Fox was the studio most immediately impacted by the outbreak of the flu in Mexico, since “X-Men Origins: Wolverine” is opening day and date Friday. Studio’s international team made the decision over the weekend to cancel the opening of “Wolverine” in Mexico, along with the premiere.
The tricky part now will be deciding when to open the films without inviting too much competition.
And no one’s sure when the situation will improve. Mexico City has virtually shut down, including cinemas. Circuits also are closing theaters in other Mexican cities.
Mexico saw good results for the “X-Men” franchise and also drove plenty of business for “Da Vinci Code.”
Fox’s “X-Men: The Last Stand,” the previous installment, saw its third-best territory gross — $16.5 million — in Mexico. Pic cumed $225 million internationally and $234.4 million domestically.
Mexico also made the top 10 list of highest-grossing territories for “Da Vinci Code,” at $19.3 million. Film grossed a boffo $540.7 million internationally and $217.5 million in North America.
If the situation improves in Mexico, Fox could open “Wolverine” in two weeks. At the same time, the studio might be loathe to go up against “Angels and Demons” if Sony sticks to the May 15 date.
Like Fox and Sony, Paramount is continuing to monitor the situation, and has not yet set another date for the debut of “Star Trek.”
One reason for delaying the launches is that studios don’t want to make huge media spends in the final days before a film’s release and then have to cancel on the eve of the opening.
Fox could even decide to push back the May 22 release of “Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian” in Mexico when coming up with a new plan for “Wolverine.”
So far, studios don’t believe the flu epidemic will affect moviegoing in other territories, including the U.S. and Canada. There have been no deaths outside Mexico.
“Wolverine” is expected to do big business in its debut. The winter and spring have seen record-breaking grosses at the domestic box office, with admissions up both domestically and internationally.
Universal‘s “Fast and Furious” won at the international box office for the April 24-26 weekend, grossing $15.9 million in its fourth sesh for a foreign cume of $170.9 million and a worldwide total of $316.7 million (domestic cume is $145.8 million). Film far outperformed expectations.
DreamWorks Animation/Paramount’s 3-D toon “Monsters vs. Aliens” likewise continued its strong overseas run, grossing $10.7 million for the weekend for a foreign cume of $142.9 million and a world total of $318.2 million (domestic total is $175.3 million).
“Fast” and “Monsters” are the two top foreign earners of 2009.
04.29.2009 | By Mack Chico |
In a seven-figure deal, Chris Noth, aka Mr. Big, has committed to “Sex and the City 2,” the sequel to be directed by Michael Patrick King for New Line Cinema.
The pic shoots in early September, and Warner Bros. has set a May 28, 2010, release date. The original grossed $412.6 million worldwide.
Noth will next be seen onscreen in “My One and Only” and will reprise his Off Broadway role in the play “Farragut North,” which opens at L.A.’s Geffen Playhouse in June and also stars Chris Pine.
04.28.2009 | By Jack Rico |
A superhero is among the casualties of the deadly outbreak of swine influenza in Mexico City — the epicenter of the potential flu pandemic.
Twentieth Century Fox on Monday postponed Thursday’s opening of “X-Men Origin: Wolverine” because most of the capital’s theaters are likely to be closed.
A studio spokesman said a new launch date would be announced once Fox gets a better sense of when theaters will reopen.
Scores of screens owned by exhibitors Cinepolis, Cinemex, Cinemas Lumiere and Cinemark have gone dark, and the remaining chains and indies are expected to follow suit. Cinepolis is also shutting theaters in the states of Mexico and San Luis Potosi.
Cinemark and Cinemas Lumiere sites are closed until further notice, while others hope to reopen later this week depending on the situation.
The theaters are responding to a request from Mayor Marcelo Ebrard, who has also asked that other public places, such as bars and restaurants, close in an attempt to contain the outbreak that had claimed 150 lives by Monday. Schools and public transport have already shuttered.
Lemon Films co-prexy Fernando Rovzar expressed relief at having just wrapped shooting for Kuno Becker vehicle “La ultima muerte” last week.
“Films in theaters, whether they are in their first or 10th week, are suffering, and with them the distribution companies,” he said.
Spanish-language media titan Televisa is forging on with telenovela production but banning live audiences from shows that usually feature them. It is also allowing staff members to take leave to watch kids, who are staying home from school until at least May 6.
That said, sources at the conglom said execs are listening to government recommendations, and policies could shift day to day.
This wait-and-see attitude has gripped the capital of some 20 million people where the traffic on the normally congested streets has been cut by half, public places are no longer crowded, and many of those who venture out are wearing face masks.
04.22.2009 | By Mack Chico |
CBS Films has tapped Vanessa Hudgens to topline teen romancer “Beastly,” with Susan Cartsonis producing via her Storefront Films shingle.
Daniel Barnz is directing from his own script, centering on an arrogant 17-year-old who’s hideously transformed in order to find true romance.
Story’s based on Alex Flinn’s fantasy novel, a retelling of “Beauty and the Beast” set in modern-day New York. CBS acquired feature rights to “Beastly” in late 2007 as one of its first projects.
Hudgens, last seen in “High School Musical 3: Senior year,” is also set for Zack Snyder’s fantasy-drama “Sucker Punch.”
04.12.2009 | By Mack Chico |
The South Bronx is getting ready to raise the curtain on a first-of-its-kind public high school dedicated to film studies.
The Cinema School is set to open its doors in a new building on the grounds of Monroe High School in September.
The program, which will follow a conservatory-style curriculum, has drawn funding from JPMorgan Chase Foundation and has the support of industryites including Spike Jonze, Catherine Hardwicke, Spike Lee, David O. Russell and Whit Stillman, who have been involved in shaping the program. Gotham Mayor Michael Bloomberg is not surprisingly a big supporter of the school, whose inaugural class will consist of 80 freshman students.
The school was founded by former social worker Joe Hall and indie producer Rachael Horovitz (HBO’s “Grey Gardens,” “About Schmidt”).
“It’s the perfect extension of my day job,” Horovitz said. “It can take years to develop a script, and the filmmakers I’m working with can come in and teach at the school.”
The Cinema School is in part an outgrowth of the nonprofit Ghetto Film School org, a film training program Hall founded in the Bronx in 2000. Hall’s program and students attracted industry attention, including Horovitz, who wanted to see the program expand into an accredited, year-round high school. Evan Shapiro, prexy of the IFC and Sundance Channel cablers, serves as chairman of Ghetto Film School’s board and is also involved in the Cinema School.
Horovitz recruited a deep-pocketed benefactor for the school in JPMorgan Chase Foundation veep Gayle Jennings-O’Byrne, who deals with the bank’s arts and culture portfolio. Jennings-O’Byrne persuaded the Foundation to donate $110,000 to the Ghetto Film School. Of that donation, $35,000 went to fund the planning of the high school, and $75,000 bankrolled the Ghetto Film School’s final project, shot by students on location in Uganda.
Jennings-O’Byrne sees the outlay as the beginning, not the end. “We have plans to donate more,” she said. “We now have a new proposal in from them. We haven’t decisioned it, but we want to stay in the game.”
The Cinema School, in new buildings on the campus of Monroe High, is also part of a push by the New York City schools to open more facilities with special curriculum focusing on specific disciplines. Katherine Oliver, head of the Mayor’s Film Office, noted that the Cinema School would feed one of New York’s growth industries, film and TV production, and would help open doors for students who might otherwise struggle to break into the film biz.
“It gives a lot of inner-city kids a chance,” Oliver said.
The city has helped Hall and Horovitz secure funding for amenities like extra editing equipment that a standard public-school budget doesn’t provide. Horovitz says she wants the school to be able to afford better film screening equipment by the time classes start in September.
“We’re sharing the building with another school, and our goal is to have a stand-alone school — to really be able to have production facilities.”
As for the filmmakers themselves, most won’t be teaching full course loads, but many have donated time and resources to the school simply because they like the idea.
Peter Becker, prexy of cineaste homevid distrib Criterion Collection, is helping the school’s teachers design the curriculum. Becker said they’re wrestling with how to “create a film literacy program that doesn’t feel like homework.”
Hall and Ghetto Film School attracted the attention of helmer Russell, and his support became a gateway to other high-profile supporters.
“David said, ‘Come by and see me when you’re in L.A.,’ ” Hall said. “So we went to L.A. pretending we had other people to see. As we were showing him a short our students had done, he said, ‘I should be on your board.’ “
Stillman said the Cinema School program would go a long way toward ensuring that younger generations have an understanding of filmdom’s history.
“There’s a generation growing up that has never seen a Preston Sturges film,” Stillman said, with alarm in his voice.
04.2.2009 | By Mack Chico |
Antonio Banderas will exec produce a U.S. version of “Camera Café,” the hit French short comedy format.
David E. Saltzman will helm the first series of 35×3.5-minute episodes about life in an office as seen from the point of view of a camera hidden in the coffee machine.
Banderas will make a cameo appearance in the pilot as a delivery guy.
Series will start shooting this month to air on web platform MIO.TV. Execs hope to package it for TV for a second run.
“Banderas knows the show from Spain, and we’re very excited to have him as our ambassador,” said Nicolas Coppermann, managing director of Robin & Co., parent company of Paris-based Calt Distribution, which created “Camera Café.”
MIO.TV, run by Manuel Garcia Duran, former manager at Spain’s Telefonica Media, financed the first 20 episodes and is negotiating with coffee brands for finance for the following episodes
Calt has sold localized versions of “Camera Café,” a pun on the French term camera cachee which means hidden camera, to 55 territories including China.
Sales inked at Mip TV included Lebanon’s MTV and Romania’s MVM.
03.31.2009 | By Mack Chico |
As Paramount Pictures readies the May 8 release of its “Star Trek” franchise relaunch, the studio is moving forward with a sequel, and has hired Roberto Orci, Alex Kurtzman and Damon Lindelof to pen the screenplay.
J.J. Abrams, who directed and produced the latest chapter, is onboard to produce the follow-up alongside his Bad Robot partner Bryan Burk. No decision has been made yet on whether Abrams will return behind the camera for the sequel.
Orci, Kurtzman and Lindelof also are receiving producing credit on the sequel.
Story is still in the embryonic stage, but the trio are aiming to deliver their script to the Melrose studio by Christmas for what would likely be a summer 2011 release.
“There’s obviously a lot of hubris involved in signing on to write a sequel of a movie that hasn’t even come out yet,” said Lindelof, co-creator with Abrams of ABC’s “Lost” who produced the upcoming “Trek” but did not contribute to Orci and Kurtzman’s screenplay. “But we’re so excited about the first one that we wanted to proceed.”
As for potential storylines, Kurtzman stressed that the writing team will wait to take a cue from fan reaction about which direction to go.
“Obviously we discussed ideas, but we are waiting to see how audiences respond next month,” he said. “With a franchise rebirth, the first movie has to be about origin. But with a second, you have the opportunity to explore incredibly exciting things. We’ll be ambitious about what we’ll do.”
Though Orci and Kurtzman have worked together as a writing team for more than 12 years, the duo has worked with Lindelof on only one screenplay: DreamWorks‘ “Cowboys and Aliens,” which they are currently writing together.
Paramount has high hopes for the “Star Trek” relaunch, and is pulling out all the stops on the marketing front. Studio began a full-scale campaign six months before the film’s May bow.
03.30.2009 | By Mack Chico |
Columbia Pictures is closing in on a deal to acquire screen rights to “The Limit,” with Tobey Maguire attached to star in the story of rival Grand Prix drivers.
Columbia is in negotiations to acquire Michael Cannell’s forthcoming novel, which Tony Peckham will adapt. Maguire will star as Phil Hill, who went against his good friend and Ferrari teammate Wolfgang von Trips in the 1961 Drivers Championship.
Move coincides with Maguire’s Columbia-based shingle beefing up its ranks by hiring veteran producer Jenno Topping, who will produce “The Limit.” Topping will oversee day-to-day production for the company and will produce movies for the company with Maguire.
Topping has had a first-look deal with the studio, either partnered with director Betty Thomas or by herself, for nearly a decade. Most recently, she produced the Jennifer Garner starrer “Catch and Release.”
At Maguire Entertainment, she will oversee a development slate that includes the Gary Ross helming vehicle “Tokyo Suckerpunch,” the bigscreen adaptation of 1980s TV series “Robotech” and the crime thriller “Good People,” which is based on a Marcus Sakey novel.
“We have worked with Jenno for a very long time,” Columbia prexy Matt Tolmach said. “She is a member of our studio family, so joining forces with Tobey is truly serendipitous. … There is an enormous comfort level creatively.”
Maguire is also producing “The Limit” alongside Cathy Schulman and Scarlett Lacey for Mandalay Pictures. Nick Reimond from Maguire Entertainment brought the project to the company.
“The Limit” will be published in the fall by the Hachette Publishing division Twelve.
Peckham recently scripted “The Human Factor,” the Clint Eastwood-directed Warner Bros. film, as well as a rewrite on “Sherlock Holmes,” the Guy Ritchie-directed film.
Topping’s other producer credits include “Guess Who,” the “Charlie’s Angels” movies and “28 Days.”
CAA brokered the film rights deal and Peckham is repped by WMA.
03.20.2009 | By Mack Chico |
The New York film scene is undergoing its biggest shakeup in years, mostly due to possible changes at downtown/uptown rivals Tribeca and the Film Society of Lincoln Center.
Exec shuffles at both places have caused a flurry of speculation about how the city’s movie event map will be redrawn. One major potential shift suddenly being buzzed about in film circles has been the long-discussed notion of moving the Tribeca fest from the spring into the fall.
Though Jane Rosenthal flatly denies a Tribeca date change, a berth in October or November could build on the awards-season launch of Toronto, occupying what’s currently a dead zone on the fest calendar while also potentially stealing thunder from Sundance.
There are also reasons not to change dates: Events already planned could be hard to reschedule, and sponsors already lined up could change their minds.
But fall would also allow premieres for kudos hopefuls that miss Toronto, such as last year’s “Revolutionary Road” and “The Reader” or “There Will Be Blood” in 2007.
Arguably, the biggest impact would be undercutting the New York Film Festival. The highly curated selection of 28 films, conceived during the creation of Lincoln Center in the 1960s as a domestic answer to Cannes and Venice, has laid claim to the fall for 46 years.
Geoff Gilmore arrived this month as chief creative officer at Tribeca Enterprises after ending a 20-year run at Sundance. Mara Manus, who spent six years as exec director of the Public Theater, took the top job at the Lincoln Center Film Society last fall.
Both entities have seen turnover associated with those moves. The film society’s No. 2 programmer, Kent Jones ankled, as did publicity vet Jeanne Berney. Slammed by the economy, the org recently had to cut 25% of its staff, including a lot of longtimers.
Meanwhile, Peter Scarlet left his post as creative director of Tribeca in February and has not been replaced. Gilmore’s role is larger than the fest, and the official line has been that he will leave day-to-day operations to others. Publicly, Tribeca reps insist they aren’t changing dates, noting their important new brand extension in Doha, Qatar, which launches this November under Gilmore. Running two fall fests half a world apart would be all but impossible, they say.
At the film society, however, rumors of the date shift have been making the rounds, and no one is counting out any possibility.
“There’s definitely a place for both of us,” Manus said of Tribeca.
From her first day, the biggest challenge for Manus, 49, has been refining exactly what that place should be.
“There’s been a perception that you need a Ph.D. and an apartment on the Upper West Side in order to appreciate our films,” she said during a rare sitdown in her office overlooking Amsterdam Avenue. ” ‘Slumdog Millionaire’ showed that great stories can come in any package.”
Manus has already stirred resentment in some cineaste circles by presiding over staff turnover and drawing attention to marketing and a concern for the bottom line. The fear is that the ultimate bastion of art cinema will drift too far downmarket, that the urge to shake off an elitist rep will tarnish what many in filmdom consider the highest temple of cinema.
Her critics would not necessarily be heartened to know that Manus and other Film Society execs just wrapped a trip to L.A., where they met with agencies and studios — something the org has never done before in its history. “It’s important that we have that dialogue,” she said. “The studios aren’t just making ‘Bachelor Party.’ “
The reference to Fox’s 1984 Tom Hanks comedy isn’t random. Before her long run at the Public and before that at the Ford Foundation, Manus worked as a production exec at Universal, reporting to comedy maven Sean Daniel, a Universal exec who oversaw “Animal House.”
One day Daniel told her she had to see Hanks, then an emerging star, in the Joe Roth-helmed “Bachelor Party.” “I laughed so hard at that screening,” she recalled.
Discovering comedy talent fulfilled an ambition Manus had since the age of 16 — to work as a studio exec or producer.
The Gotham-raised daughter of an entertainment lawyer and lit agent, she was steeped in showbiz. She didn’t hesitate when given a chance in her early 20s to work stints as an underling for Roger Corman and “Dog Day Afternoon” producer Marty Bregman.
Having quit the film biz “cold turkey,” in her words, in 1994, Manus returned to her Gotham roots and rekindled a love of world cinema. With her Hollywood days in a different perspective, she has nothing but praise for chief programmer Richard Pena.
While he remains firmly aboard in his longtime role, Pena has also become part of the speculation surrounding the Lincoln Center Film Society given that his contract expires in 2012.
A major weapon in Manus’ arsenal to retain both Pena and ticket buyers is the $38 million renovation that has transformed Alice Tully Hall from a bunkerlike mid-century monster into an inviting, glass-walled Broadway fixture. By 2011, it will also add two other small screening venues that will complement the recently revamped Walter Reade Theater.
As part of the larger remaking of Lincoln Center, the changes will also bring an array of new public spaces, flat screens and LED displays, all of which promise to make the New York Film Festival more accessible to the public. Internet ticketing, more aggressive marketing and even a change of the film society’s name — everything is on the table.
Manus sent a message by choosing Hanks, a quintessentially Hollywood figure, as the honoree for this year’s fund-raising gala, to be held in Tully. Gone is the traditional black-tie stuffiness of past galas honoring Charlie Chaplin and Woody Allen. In its place, Manus hopes, will be a welcome shot of energy from the venue and the crowd drawn by Hanks.
New facilities alone, however, won’t be the answer as competitors keep putting on the pressure, she acknowledged.
“What I’ve learned is that for cultural institutions, it’s the opposite of ‘Field of Dreams,’ ” she said. “If you build it, they may or may not come depending on how well the place is doing.”
