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The Latest in ShowBiz News

‘The Karate Kid’ remake is a kicking go!
Jack Rico
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2008/11/11 at 12:00am

Movies

‘The Karate Kid’ remake is a kicking go!

11.11.2008 | By |

'The Karate Kid' remake is a kicking go!

Columbia Pictures is back in the dojo with a new version of the 1984 hit “The Karate Kid,” which has been refashioned as a star vehicle for Jaden Smith, Will Smith’s son.

The film will be produced by Jerry Weintraub (who launched the original franchise) and Overbrook Entertainment‘s James Lassiter, Will Smith and Ken Stovitz. Will Smith, who is the 10-year-old actor’s father, co-starred alongside Jaden in his feature debut, “The Pursuit of Happyness,” which Overbrook and Escape Artists produced for Columbia.

The script is being written by Chris Murphy, and the film will shoot next year in Beijing and other cities. While the new film will be set in that exotic locale, it will borrow elements of the original plot, wherein a bullied youth learns to stand up for himself with the help of an eccentric mentor.

China Film Group Corp. will co-produce in China.

The younger Smith, who next stars in “The Day the Earth Stood Still,” is a martial arts practitioner.

Columbia presidents Doug Belgrad and Matt Tolmach said they had been trying to find a way to bring back the series, which began with three films that featured Ralph Macchio and Pat Morita. A subsequent film launched the career of Hilary Swank.

MGM to show movies on YouTube!
Mack Chico
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2008/11/11 at 12:00am

Movies

MGM to show movies on YouTube!

11.11.2008 | By |

MGM to show movies on YouTube!

Metro-Goldwyn Mayer Studios, better known as MGM, will be the first major movie studio to post full-length feature films on YouTube, the company announced Sunday.

CNET News reported on Thursday that YouTube was preparing to launch a feature-film service after spending months smoothing over fractured relationships in Hollywood.

MGM will likely not be the last studio to post full-length feature films on YouTube, according to an industry source. Last summer, Lionsgate announced a partnership with YouTube, but that deal calls for the studio to offer only short clips from films and TV shows. MGM will also post TV shows on YouTube, according to multiple reports published on Sunday.

For Google, YouTube’s parent company, the deal is a turning point in its relationship with Hollywood. There was lots of distrust and bitter feelings in entertainment circles after the way Google dealt with copyright infringement on its site. But that was when Google was in the driver’s seat. Back then, thousands of YouTube’s users would post clips from TV shows and films on the site and YouTube executives told the studios they were powerless to prevent it–all the while YouTube amassed an enormous following.

The law, according to YouTube, didn’t hold them responsible for crimes committed by their users. Hollywood was further frustrated when Google required copyright owners to send written requests when they wanted a clip removed from the site.

The studios have Hulu to thank for forcing Google to soften its approach. Hulu, the video portal formed by NBC Universal and News Corp., has become the top outlet for watching full-length films and TV shows on the Web. The site is generating as many ad dollars in only its first year in business as the three-year-old YouTube, according to reports.

If Google wanted to duplicate Hulu’s success, it needed to make nice with film studios. So it did. YouTube has developed systems that help keep pirated clips off the site and is developing video players that present clearer images than the site’s standard player. When it comes to financial terms, Google has proven much more flexible than in the past, according to three studio sources.

The typical splits right now call for the studios to pocket 70 percent of the profits and Google gets the rest, say the sources. What MGM and Google negotiated hasn’t been disclosed.

The only obstacles to Google and YouTube getting more studios to post full-length movies is Google’s insistence on a particular ad format, say the sources. They declined to say which ad unit Google prefers. The other hurdle is that some studios are skeptical that users will accept all the ads that need to accompany a feature film in order to make it profitable.

‘Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa’ roars to #1 at the BO!
Pau Brunet
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2008/11/10 at 12:00am

Movies

‘Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa’ roars to #1 at the BO!

11.10.2008 | By |

'Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa' roars to #1 at the BO!

It was a zoo at the multiplex this weekend, as the animated sequel Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa easily won the box office crown, and flocks of filmgoers helped several holdovers stay strong while propelling Role Models to a bigger than expected debut. Meanwhile, the other major new release, Soul Men, had little to celebrate.

Madagascar 2 grossed a huge $63.5 mil from Friday through Sunday, according to early estimates. That sum far exceeds the $47.2 mil that the first Madagascar flick grossed over Memorial Day weekend 2005, and it’s the biggest bow for any movie since The Dark Knight‘s record-breaking $158.4 mil haul way back in July. It’s also the second-best premiere ever for an animated movie that didn’t open during the summer (The Incredibles holds the current high mark, $70.5 mil), and the first-weekend total ranks seventh among those for all feature-length cartoons. By comparison, this past summer WALL-E opened with $63.1 mil and Kung Fu Panda premiered to $60.2 mil.

The causes of this success should be no mystery by now. Kids continue to be the most important and decisive cohort out there, the movie had little family-film competition, and that A- CinemaScore review (from a rare ”four quadrant” audience that hit all major demographics) underscored how people took a shine to Madagascar 2 — and how it should hang on well for a few weeks to come.

Performing remarkably well at No. 2 was the R-rated comedy Role Models, which banked $19.3 mil, a gross that would have been enough to win just about any other non-Madagascar weekend. A successful bit of counterprogramming, the adult farce also drew an A- CinemaScore grade (from an audience that was mostly between the ages of 18 and 34), and it tallied the biggest opening ever for a movie in which Paul Rudd has a lead part. So, yes, it’s now official: Everybody does, in fact, love Paul Rudd.

Three super-solid stalwarts dominated the rest of the top five. High School Musical 3: Senior Year (No. 3) grossed $9.3 mil on a 39 percent decline; the young-skewing Disney flick likely benefited from Madagascar 2‘s overflow traffic. Changeling (No. 4) dropped a mere 22 percent to bring in another $7.3 mil. And Zack and Miri Make a Porno (No. 5) fell just 35 percent in grossing $6.5 mil over the course of its second weekend. Thus, the Bernie Mac-Isaac Hayes swan song, Soul Men, got pushed out of the top of the chart: It banked a disappointing $5.6 mil despite garnering its own A- CinemaScore mark.

Among smaller releases, the Holocaust drama The Boy in the Striped Pajamas averaged a nice $15,000 in 17 theaters, while the cult rock musical Repo: The Genetic Opera underperformed in eight locations, grossing just $51,578.

Still, thanks to the big winners at the top of the chart, the overall box office was up 29 percent from the same frame a year ago, when Bee Movie and American Gangster held off newcomers Fred Claus and Lions for Lambs. And things continue to look up at the multiplex as the latest James Bond adventure, Quantum of Solace, which has been breaking records elsewhere in the world, is due to premiere Stateside next time around. In other words, prepare to be shaken and stirred.

# TITLE % Gross Theaters Avg. Cume Dist. Bdgt.
1 Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa – $63M 4’056 $15’450 $63M Dreamworks –
2 Role Models – $19’2M 2’792 $6’890 $19’2M Universal –
3 High School Musical 3 -39% $8’2M 3’456 $2’680 $75’7M Disney $11M
4 Changeling -22% $7’3M 1’855 $3’920 $20’5M Universal –
5 Zack & Miri Make a Porno -35%

$6’5M

 2’735 $2’380 $20’9M Weinstein $25M
6 Soul Men – $5’6M 2’044 $2’740 $5’6M MGM/Wein. –
Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa
Mike Pierce
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2008/11/08 at 12:00am

Reviews

Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa

11.8.2008 | By |

Rated: PG for some mild crude humor.
Release Date: 2008-11-07
Starring: No hay guionistas
Director(s):
Distributor:
Film Genre:
Country: USA
Official Website: http://www.madagascarinternational.com/intl/jp/

Go to our film page

Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa

Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa… what a funny, funny movie. I actually enjoyed it more than the first one. Just in case you HAVEN’T seen the 1st one…it starts off where the last ended…still stranded on Madagascar! Alex the Lion, Marty the Zebra, Melman the Giraffe, and Gloria the Hippo have FINALLY decided to leave…with help of the penguins of course. (who are even more funny…and my favorite)
 
A HUGE slingshot shoots them in the air…and their off! BUT…trouble hits (not going to tell you how)…and they crash land in Africa. While there…they start meeting their own kind…but…guess what? Alex the Lion meets his PARENTS. He pretty much has to go through some tests to actual join the pride. What he goes through…is funny as hell. You laugh a lot through out the movie. The penguins are great!
 
Parents…if your looking for a great family movie – take the kiddos! You won’t be disappointed.

Role Models
Mike Pierce
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2008/11/08 at 12:00am

Reviews

Role Models

11.8.2008 | By |

Rated: R for crude and sexual content, strong language and nudity.
Release Date: 2008-11-07
Starring: Paul Rudd, David Wain
Director(s):
Distributor:
Film Genre:
Country: USA
Official Website: http://www.rolemodelsmovie.com/

Go to our film page

Role Models

The dynamic duo is back! Sean William Scott and Paul Rudd are tag teaming it on the big screen in the hilarious movie, Role Models.

Let me tell you people…I haven’t laughed that hard in a longgggg time. I’m telling the truth…you laugh from the beginning to the end! NO LIE.

It’s basically about two guys who work for a energy drink company…Paul Rudd who plays, Danny…well, his girlfriend breaks up with him…totally crushed…he decides to go off during a high school speech…after being kicked out…their Minotaur truck gets towed…a huge fight breaks out…and their arrested.
 
Instead of doing jail time…they are told they have to do 150 hours of community service at Sturdy Wings. (like a Big Brother’s Program) They have become mentors.
 
Danny gets a kid named Augie…who’s into REAL FANTASY roll playing. (Watch the trailer)…Wheeler is mentoring, Ronnie…this little black kid…who is funny as hell. You have to see it for yourself.
 
This is a great Rated R movie…cussin, boobies, fighting, biting, screaming, drinking…a good ass movie. I’m actually going to see it again.

Lin Manuel Miranda takes ‘In the Heights’ to the big screen
Mack Chico
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2008/11/08 at 12:00am

Movies

Lin Manuel Miranda takes ‘In the Heights’ to the big screen

11.8.2008 | By |

Lin Manuel Miranda takes 'In the Heights' to the big screen

Flush from the global returns of “Mamma Mia!,” Universal Pictures is tuning up another stage musical transformation. The studio has acquired rights to turn the Tony Award-winning Broadway musical “In the Heights” into a feature.

Lin-Manuel Miranda, who created the musical, wrote the lyrics and music and has played the starring role through its Off Broadway and Broadway runs, is expected to reprise his role in the film. Miranda will produce with Meryl Poster.

Quiara Alegria Hudes, who wrote the book for the show, will pen the screen adaptation.

The tuner takes place over three days in the upper Manhattan neighborhood of Washington Heights, where a bodega owner (played by Manuel) inherits his late grandmother’s lottery winnings and plans to shutter his store and retire on a beach in the Dominican Republic. Trying to say farewell to the characters who live on the block, he realizes that his neighbors are his real family, and he’s torn about leaving.

Original Broadway producers Kevin McCollum, Jeffrey Seller and Jill Furman will be executive producers of the film.

“In the Heights” launched Off Broadway in early 2007 and moved to Broadway, where it won four Tonys, including musical.

“It is a timeless Everyman story that has a universal appeal,” said Poster who, as an executive at Miramax Films, supervised and exec produced “Chicago.” “In the Heights” is the first feature she has set up under her first-look deal for TV and movie projects with NBC Universal.

U, which has watched “Mamma Mia!” become the highest-grossing musical in history with $558.8 million worldwide, now has another tuner on the boards. The studio and producer Marc Platt are also in the nascent stages of turning the Broadway hit “Wicked” into a feature.

Steven Spielberg and Will Smith to remake ‘Old Boy’
Mack Chico
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2008/11/07 at 12:00am

Movies

Steven Spielberg and Will Smith to remake ‘Old Boy’

11.7.2008 | By |

Steven Spielberg and Will Smith to remake 'Old Boy'

Steven Spielberg and Will Smith are in early discussions to collaborate on a remake of Chan Wook-park‘s “Oldboy.” DreamWorks is in the process of securing the remake rights, and the new pic will be distributed by Universal.

In the 2003 Korean original, a man gets kidnapped and held in a shabby cell for 15 years without explanation. Suddenly, he’s released and given money, a cell phone and clothes and is set on a path to discover who destroyed his life so he can take revenge.

Spielberg had been looking for an opportunity to make a film with Smith, who would play the kidnapped man if all the pieces fall into place. Spielberg is looking for a writer to begin the development process.

The film was originally set at U and then found its way to Mandate.

Spielberg is next expected to direct “Tintin.”

Antonio Banderas to play Salvador Dali?
Mack Chico
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2008/11/06 at 12:00am

Movies

Antonio Banderas to play Salvador Dali?

11.6.2008 | By |

Antonio Banderas to play Salvador Dali?

Antonio Banderas is in final negotiations to play Salvador Dali in the Simon West-helmed indie biopic “Dali.”

Media 8 Entertainment (“Monster”) is producing alongside West’s shingle, which has been developing the project since 2003, when West optioned the feature film rights to Jeremy Walters’ spec script for low- to mid-six figures.

Film will blend music with CGI sequences in an effort to capture the inventiveness and color of the painter. Story will explore how Dali conquered America and the world with sex, sin and surrealism only to succumb later to worldwide scandal and misfortune.

At least two other Dali biopics are in the works: Al Pacino is attached to play the artist in “Dali & I: The Surreal Story,” with Andrew Niccol directing; and “Twilight’s” Robert Pattinson stars as Dali in the upcoming “Little Ashes,” which chronicles the young life and loves of the painter as well as filmmaker Luis Bunuel and writer Federico Garcia Lorca.

West is producing “Dali” alongside Jib Polhemus (“Lara Croft: Tomb Raider”). Media 8 is handling worldwide sales, with pre-sales beginning this week at the American Film Market.

Media 8 has already sold the film in Eastern Europe to Revolutionary Releasing, which is comprised of some of the territory’s leading companies, including Monolith, Blitz, Bonton, Forum and MediaPro.

West added that the project will focus not only on Dali’s outrageous lifestyle but his lifelong love affair with Gala, his wife, muse and manipulative manager.

Shooting is scheduled to begin in the first quarter of 2009 in Spain and England. The film will be an international co-production.

Michael Crichton, author of Jurassic Park, is dead
Mack Chico
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2008/11/05 at 12:00am

Movies

Michael Crichton, author of Jurassic Park, is dead

11.5.2008 | By |

Michael Crichton, author of Jurassic Park, is dead

Prolific novelist and “ER” creator Michael Crichton has passed away. He was 66.

Perhaps best known for being the author of Jurassic Park and its sequel The Lost World, which were turned into a hugely successful movie franchise, his numerous books have sold over 150 million copies worldwide.

In what his family calls an unexpected death, it was revealed that he was waging a private battle against cancer.

“While the world knew him as a great storyteller that challenged our preconceived notions about the world around us — and entertained us all while doing so — his wife Sherri, daughter Taylor, family and friends knew Michael Crichton as a devoted husband, loving father and generous friend who inspired each of us to strive to see the wonders of our world through new eyes,” his family tells ET. “He did this with a wry sense of humor that those who were privileged to know him personally will never forget.”

‘Quantum of Solace’ – 8 best clips of the film!
Mack Chico
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2008/11/04 at 12:00am

Movies

‘Quantum of Solace’ – 8 best clips of the film!

11.4.2008 | By |

'Quantum of Solace' - 8 best clips of the film!

We’re just 10 days away from the US release of ‘Quantum of Solace’ and we already have 8 scenes from the film. This is a great sneak peak for you guys to judge whether it’s any good. We think it’s gonna make a killing at the BO, perhaps do better that Casino Royale’s $167 million domestically. 

Here’s a synopsis of the film to get you more… acquainted.

Quantum of Solace continues the high octane adventures of James Bond in Casino Royale. Betrayed by Vesper, the woman he loved, 007 fights the urge to make his latest mission personal. Pursuing his determination to uncover the truth, Bond and M interrogate Mr White who reveals the organisation which blackmailed Vesper is far more complex and dangerous than anyone had imagined. Forensic intelligence links an MI6 traitor to a bank account in Haiti where a case of mistaken identity introduces Bond to the beautiful but feisty Camille, a woman who has her own vendetta. Camille leads Bond straight to Dominic Greene, a ruthless business man and major force within the mysterious organisation, Quantum. On a mission that leads him to Austria, Italy and South America, Bond discovers that Greene, conspiring to take total control of one of the worlds most important natural resources, is forging a deal with the exiled General Medrano.

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