film Archives - Page 4 of 6 - ShowBizCafe.com

The Book of Mormon: From Broadway to Hollywood

2011/09/13 at 12:00am

The Book of Mormon: From Broadway to Hollywood

09.13.2011 | By Jack Rico |

When the work The Book of Mormon opened on Broadway this year, it was was one of the most anticipated musical of the year. Hispanic writer Robert Lopez was brought on by the creators of ‘South Park’, Trey Parker and Matt Stone, to insure musical numbers and an uproarious comedy. The show won nine awards, including Best Musical at the Tony’s this year.

With such good results, the creators have confirmed that ‘The Book of Mormon’ is set to debut in screens soon.

However, their fans will have to wait for the show to complete a U.S. tour that will start next summer, before they start shooting.

“The Book of Mormon” is a satire starring two young Mormon missionaries on assignment in a remote village in Uganda.

Parker and Stone are not fearful of the polemics in their first work, which parodied the history of the Mormon church, the ritual of baptism sexuality and included many politically incorrect jokes that mixed with the adventures of two missionaries in Africa.

“If you can see a normal chapter ‘South Park’ with your kids, you probably should not bring them to music. But it is not nearly as gross or indecent as we’ve ever done. We could do much more,” said Stone.

By Mack Chico

2011/04/11 at 12:00am

Movies

‘HOP’ is #1 at the box office, again!

04.11.2011 | By Mack Chico |

Many did not imagine that a story based on the popular Easter Bunny who brings chocolate eggs, could be so fruitful.

“Hop,” the film that chronicles the adventures of the successor of the Easter rabbit, again led the box office this weekend to add 21.7 million in its favor. The film also was the most watched last week from the day of its release.

The actor Russell Brand, husband of singer Katy Perry, is also among the top box office earnings, as well as lending his voice to the character bunny, the film starring comedy called “Arthur“ took second place with profit of 12.6 million dollars.

The thriller “Hanna“ managed to steal third after adding $ 12.3 million, the film “Soul Surfer“ with 11.1 million and fourth after the movie “Insidious“ in fifth with 9.7 million.

Estimated box office receipts of films for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canada.

1. ”Hop”, 21.7 millon.
2. ”Arthur”, 12.6 millon.
3. ”Hanna”, 12.3 millon.
4. ”Soul Surfer”, 11.1 millon.
5. ”Insidious”, 9.7 millon.
6. ”Your Highness”, 9.5 millon.
7. ”Source Code”, 9.1 millon.
8. ”Limitless”, 5.7 millon.
9. ”Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules”, 4.9 millon.
10. ”The Lincoln Lawyer”, 4.6 millon.

‘Diary of a Wimpy Kid 2’ is #1 at the box office

By Mack Chico

2011/03/28 at 12:00am

Movies

‘Diary of a Wimpy Kid 2’ is #1 at the box office

03.28.2011 | By Mack Chico |

The family comedy ‘Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules’ took this weekend’s box office contest.

The sequel to ‘Diary of a Wimpy Kid’ (2010) from Friday to Sunday raised $24.4 million, which quickly regained its production costs of 18 million dollars.

The adventures of a student who recorded his life experiences in a journal are based on the hit book series by Jeff Kiney.

Meanwhile, the fantasy action film ‘Sucker Punch’ had to settle for second place with $19 million. The successful film director Zack Snyder (“300”, “Watchmen”), fell behind industry expectations.

‘Limitless’, the winner last week at the box office, slipped to third place. The science fiction thriller with Bradley Cooper and Robert De Niro managed to generate $15.2 million, totaling $41 million dollars since its release.

1. ”Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules”, $24.4 millon
2. ”Sucker Punch”, $19 millon
3. ”Limitless”, $15.2 millon
4. ”The Lincoln Lawyer”, $11 millon
5. ”Rango”, $9.8 millon
6. ”Battle: Los Angeles”, $7.6 millon
7. ”Paul”, $7.5 millon
8. ”Red Riding Hood”, $4.3 millon
9. ”The Adjustment Bureau”, $4.2 millon
10. ”Mars Needs Moms!”, $2.2 millon

By Jack Rico

2011/02/12 at 12:00am

Interviews Movies Video

Matt Damon and Pedro Almodóvar to work together?

02.12.2011 | By Jack Rico |

While promoting ‘The Adjustment Bureau‘ in New York, Matt Damon confessed he has begged the brilliant Spanish director Pedro Almodóvar to do a movie together. He says he’s up to the challenge of working in a Spanish-language film. Read More

The 2011 Independent Spirit Award Nominations

By Mack Chico

2010/11/30 at 12:00am

Movies

The 2011 Independent Spirit Award Nominations

11.30.2010 | By Mack Chico |

LOS ANGELES (November 30, 2010) – Film Independent, the non-profit arts organization that produces the Spirit Awards and the Los Angeles Film Festival, announced nominations this morning for the 2011 Film Independent Spirit Awards. Eva Mendes and Jeremy Renner served as presenters and 2011 Spirit Awards host Joel McHale was also on hand. Nominees for Best Feature include 127 Hours, Black Swan, Greenberg, The Kids Are All Right and Winter’s Bone.

Please Give was selected for the Robert Altman Award, which is given to one film’s director, casting director and ensemble cast.

“The artistic side of independent film is stronger than ever, and it’s especially impressive to see the developed craft of extraordinary independent filmmakers who have only gotten better over the years. Past nominees such as Darren Aronofsky, Noah Baumbach, Danny Boyle, Lisa Cholodenko, Debra Granik, Nicole Holofcener and John Cameron Mitchell continue to create original and compelling films that move and amaze us.” said Film Independent Executive Director Dawn Hudson.

Selected from 220 submissions, this year’s winners will be announced at the Film Independent Spirit Awards on Saturday, February 26, 2011 at 2:00 p.m. on the beach in Santa Monica. The 26^th annual awards show will air exclusively that night on IFC at 10:00 p.m. ET/PT. Winners of the Filmmaker Grants will be highlighted during the Spirit Awards and announced at the 2011 Spirit Awards Nominee Brunch celebration on Saturday, January 15^th at BOA Steakhouse in West Hollywood.

On Wednesday, February 23, a selection of Spirit Award nominees will discuss their films and their craft at Film Independent’s Directors Close-Up, a 5-week series that features conversations with directors and their collaborators.

The Jameson FIND Your Audience Award, a new filmmaker grant, was established this year to help make it possible for one Spirit Award-nominated film to find a broader audience. Spirit Award-nominated films in need of expanding their marketing and distribution efforts will be considered. The award includes a $50,000 marketing and distribution grant, funded by Jameson Irish Whiskey. The grant was designed to meet independent filmmakers’ biggest challenge today: How to get their films out into the marketplace. A blue-ribbon committee will determine the winner.

2011 SPIRIT AWARD NOMINATIONS BEST FEATURE (Award given to the Producer, Executive Producers are not listed)

127 Hours	Producers: Danny Boyle, Christian Colson, John Smithson
Black Swan	Producers: Scott Franklin, Mike Medavoy, Arnold W. Messer, Brian Oliver
Greenberg	Producers: Jennifer Jason Leigh, Scott Rudin
The Kids Are All Right	Producers: Gary Gilbert, Philippe Hellmann, Jordan Horowitz, Jeffrey Levy-Hinte, Celine Rattray, Daniela Taplin Lundberg
Winter’s Bone	Producers: Alix Madigan-Yorkin, Anne Rosellini

BEST DIRECTOR

Darren Aronofsky	Black Swan
Danny Boyle	127 Hours
Lisa Cholodenko	The Kids Are All Right
Debra Granik	Winter’s Bone
John Cameron Mitchell	Rabbit Hole

BEST SCREENPLAY

Stuart Blumberg, Lisa Cholodenko	The Kids Are All Right
Debra Granik, Anne Rosellini	Winter’s Bone
Nicole Holofcener	Please Give
David Lindsay-Abaire	Rabbit Hole
Todd Solondz	Life During Wartime

BEST FIRST FEATURE (Award given to the director and producer)

Everything Strange and New	Director: Frazer Bradshaw Producers: A.D. Liano, Laura Techera Francia
Get Low	Director: Aaron Schneider Producers: David Gundlach, Dean Zanuck
Night Catches Us	Director: Tanya Hamilton Producers: Sean Costello, Jason Orans, Ronald Simons
The Last Exorcism	Director: Daniel Stamm Producers: Marc Abraham, Tom Bliss, Eric Newman, Eli Roth
Tiny Furniture	Director: Lena Dunham Producers: Kyle Martin, Alicia Van Couvering

BEST FIRST SCREENPLAY

Diane Bell	Obselidia
Lena Dunham	Tiny Furniture
Nik Fackler	Lovely, Still
Bob Glaudini	Jack Goes Boating
Dana Adam Shapiro, Evan M. Wiener	Monogamy

JOHN CASSAVETES AWARD – Given to the best feature made for under $500,000. Award given to the writer, director, and producer. Executive Producers are not listed

Daddy Longlegs	Writer/Directors: Benny Safdie, Josh Safdie Producers: Casey Neistat, Tom Scott
Lbs.	Director: Matthew Bonifacio Writer/Producers: Matthew Bonifacio, Carmine Famiglietti
Lovers of Hate	Writer/Director: Bryan Poyser Producer: Megan Gilbride
Obselidia	Writer/Director: Diane Bell Producers: Chris Byrne, Mathew Medlin
The Exploding Girl	Writer/Director: Bradley Rust Gray Producers: Karin Chien, Ben Howe, So Yong Kim

BEST FEMALE LEAD

Annette Bening	The Kids Are All Right
Greta Gerwig	Greenberg
Nicole Kidman	Rabbit Hole
Jennifer Lawrence	Winter’s Bone
Natalie Portman	Black Swan
Michelle Williams	Blue Valentine

BEST MALE LEAD

Ronald Bronstein	Daddy Longlegs
Aaron Eckhart	Rabbit Hole
James Franco	127 Hours
John C. Reilly	Cyrus
Ben Stiller	Greenberg

BEST SUPPORTING FEMALE

Ashley Bell	The Last Exorcism
Dale Dickey	Winter’s Bone
Allison Janney	Life During Wartime
Daphne Rubin-Vega	Jack Goes Boating
Naomi Watts	Mother and Child

BEST SUPPORTING MALE

John Hawkes	Winter’s Bone
Samuel L. Jackson	Mother and Child
Bill Murray	Get Low
John Ortiz	Jack Goes Boating
Mark Ruffalo	The Kids Are All Right

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY

Adam Kimmel	Never Let Me Go
Matthew Libatique	Black Swan
Jody Lee Lipes	Tiny Furniture
Michael McDonough	Winter’s Bone
Harris Savides	Greenberg

BEST DOCUMENTARY (Award given to the director)

Exit Through the Gift Shop	Director: Banksy
Marwencol	Director: Jeff Malmberg
Restrepo	Directors: Tim Hetherington, Sebastian Junger
Sweetgrass	Directors: Ilisa Barbash, Lucien Castaing-Taylor
Thunder Soul	Director: Mark Landsman

BEST FOREIGN FILM (Award given to the director)

Kisses (Ireland)	Director: Lance Daly
Mademoiselle Chambon (France)	Director: Stéphane Brizé
Of Gods and Men (Morocco)	Director: Xavier Beauvois
The King’s Speech (United Kingdom)	Director: Tom Hooper
Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives (Thailand)	Director: Apichatpong Weerasethakul

ACURA SOMEONE TO WATCH AWARD – The 17^th annual Acura Someone to Watch Award recognizes a talented filmmaker of singular vision who has not yet received appropriate recognition. The award includes a $25,000 unrestricted grant funded by Acura.

Hossein Keshavarz	Dog Sweat
Laurel Nakadate	The Wolf Knife
Mike Ott	Littlerock

PIAGET PRODUCERS AWARD – The 14^th annual Piaget Producers Award honors emerging producers who, despite highly limited resources demonstrate the creativity, tenacity, and vision required to produce quality, independent films. The award includes a $25,000 unrestricted grant funded by Piaget.

In-Ah Lee	Au Revoir Taipei
Adele Romanski	The Myth of the American Sleepover
Anish Savjani	Meek’s Cutoff

AVEENO® TRUER THAN FICTION AWARD – The 16^th annual AVEENO® Truer Than Fiction Award is presented to an emerging director of non-fiction features who has not yet received significant recognition. The award includes a $25,000 unrestricted grant funded by AVEENO®.

Ilisa Barbash, Lucien Castaing-Taylor	Sweetgrass
Jeff Malmberg	Marwencol
Lynn True, Nelson Walker	Summer Pasture

ROBERT ALTMAN AWARD – (Given to one film’s director, casting director, and its ensemble cast)

Please Give	Director: Nicole Holofcener
	Casting Director: Jeanne McCarthy
	Ensemble Cast: Ann Guilbert, Rebecca Hall, Catherine Keener, Amanda Peet, Oliver Platt, Lois Smith, Sarah Steele

By Pau Brunet

2009/10/05 at 12:00am

Movies

‘Zombieland’ is No. 1 at the Box Office

10.5.2009 | By Pau Brunet |

Sony’s marketing machine marches on: “Zombieland” opened No. 1 at the weekend box office, giving the studio its sixth first-place debut of the year. The horror-comedy hybrid sold an estimated $25 million in tickets at North American theaters, according to tracking services. The entry to watch, however, was Disney’s experiment in using 3-D to repackage the Pixar classics “Toy Story” and “Toy Story 2.” The films, re-rendered in 3-D and released as a double feature, sold an estimated $12.5 million, placed third — behind a three-week-old animated entry from Sony, “Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs.” (That movie sold another $16.7 million for a cumulative total of $82.4 million.)

So Disney did a successful job priming the market for “Toy Story 3,” set for release in June, but so far failed to prove any points about the goldmine potential of re-releasing old hits in 3-D. The Ricky Gervais comedy “The Invention of Lying” (Warner Brothers) was fourth with about $7.4 million, while “Surrogates” (Disney) limped into fifth place with $7.3 million ($26.4 million total). The only other wide release, “Whip It,” fared poorly in sixth place. The Fox Searchlight comedy, backed by a months-long marketing campaign and featuring the talents of Drew Barrymore and Ellen Page, sold about $4.9 million.

‘Where’s Waldo?’ to be found on the big screen

By Mack Chico

2009/06/02 at 12:00am

Movies

‘Where’s Waldo?’ to be found on the big screen

06.2.2009 | By Mack Chico |

Several studios were in on the search, but Universal and Illumination Entertainment were the ones who found “Where’s Waldo?”

U and Chris Meledandri‘s family film unit have acquired screen rights to turn the “Where’s Waldo?” book series into a live-action family pic. Deal was worth high-six against seven figures. Meledandri will produce.

Among other bidders, Warner Bros. chased the property for Bob Shaye and Michael Lynne’s Unique Features banner. The rights were brokered by Classic Media’s Eric Ellenbogen, who’ll be executive producer.

Written and illustrated by Martin Handford, the “Waldo” books have sold more than 50 million copies worldwide. The books contain complex, full-page illustrations of large crowd scenes in which the main character is somewhere hidden, dressed in a red-and-white shirt, a hat, glasses and a walking stick.

U and Illumination will seek to create a movie with strong global appeal.

Series launched in 1987 in the U.K., spawning a TV skein, comicstrip and videogames.

Handford’s business partner Mike Gornall will also be involved in the film in some capacity.

Deal comes as Illumination readies its first picture, “Despicable Me,” for a July 9, 2010, release via Universal. Voice cast includes Steve Carell, Jason Segel, Danny McBride, Will Arnett, Kristen Wiig and Julie Andrews.

Next up for Illumination is “Flanimals,” an animated film based on the children’s book series created by Ricky Gervais, who’ll voice the lead character in the film scripted by Matt Selman (“The Simpsons”).

By Mack Chico

2009/05/12 at 12:00am

Movies

Antonio Banderas in ‘The Big Bang’

05.12.2009 | By Mack Chico |

Antonio Banderas is set to star in “The Big Bang,” a neo-noir detective story to be directed by Tony Krantz.

Richard Rionda Del Castro, Krantz and Erik Jendresen will produce the film, based on a script by Jendresen (“Band of Brothers”). Production begins in Spokane, Wash., in September.

Banderas stars as an L.A. private detective who’s hired to find a missing stripper. The trail leads to the New Mexico desert, where the private eye finds a trail of bodies and contends with a brutal Russian boxer, three LAPD detectives and an aging billionaire looking to perfect the nuclear physics equivalent of the Big Bang.

Exec producing will be Patricia Eberle, Richard Salvatore and Ross Dinerstein.

Rionda Del Castro’s Hannibal Pictures is financing and handling foreign sales at Cannes. U.S. representation is being handled by WMA and Endeavor.

Pic marks the first theatrical feature for Krantz, one of the few ex-agents to make that leap. Krantz, who spent 15 years packaging series at CAA and later heading Imagine TV, previously directed two Jendresen-scripted films — “Sublime” and “Otis”– that were designed to go direct to video through Raw Feed, a venture Krantz co-created.

Krantz now owns Flame Ventures, whose slate includes a NASCAR Imax film in 3-D that Krantz will direct, and “The Conversation,” a series for AMC based on the Francis Ford Coppola film that is being written by Jendresen and Christopher McQuarrie.

Banderas most recently completed a starring role in Woody Allen‘s as-yet-untitled next film.

Katie Holmes to star in Guillermo del Toro thriller

By Mack Chico

2009/05/08 at 12:00am

Movies

Katie Holmes to star in Guillermo del Toro thriller

05.8.2009 | By Mack Chico |

Katie Holmes will star in “Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark,” a thriller for Miramax Films that was scripted by Guillermo del Toro and Matthew Robbins.

Del Toro is producing with Mark Johnson and the film will be directed by del Toro protege Troy Nixey.

The film will shoot this summer in Melbourne as a “Guillermo del Toro Presentation.”

“Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark” is based on a 1973 ABC telepic about a young girl who moves in with her father and his girlfriend and discovers they are sharing the house with devilish creatures.

Nixey, a comicbook artist, is making his feature directing debut. Del Toro sparked to “Latchkey’s Lament,” a Nixey-directed short that captured the tone del Toro wanted for “Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark.”

Del Toro and Johnson are also teamed with Gary Ungar to produce “Hater,” an adaptation of the David Moody horror novel that will be directed at Universal by Juan Antonio Bayona (“The Orphanage”).

Holmes most recently completed “The Extra Man,” directed by Shari Springer Berman and Robert Pulcini.

Del Toro is busy readying “The Hobbit,” which he’s writing with Peter Jackson, Fran Walsh and Philippa Boyens. That film shoots next year.

By Mack Chico

2009/04/09 at 12:00am

Movies

Al Pacino to play Napoleon

04.9.2009 | By Mack Chico |

Al Pacino, who has long been interested in tackling the character of Napoleon, is on tap to play the French emperor in a screen adaptation of Staton Rabin’s children’s book “Betsy and the Emperor.”

GC Corp., the venture capital fund headed by Adi Cohen and Joseph Grinkorn, has picked up rights to the project that had been held by the Bob Yari Co. GC, which will secure financing, has assigned “Betsy” to Killer Films, with plans to begin filming in late autumn.

John Curran (“The Painted Veil”) is attached to direct from a screenplay by Brian Edgar.

Producing are Killer Films’ Christine Vachon and Pamela Koffler as well as Zvi Howard Rosenman, Colleen Camp and Fonda Snyder. Cohen and John Wells will serve as exec produce.

Killer, Curran and Pacino are repped by CAA. Rosenman, Snyder and Rabin are repped by Lynn Pleshette for this project, and Camp is repped by Gersh.