Select a Page

movies Archives - Page 11 of 12 - ShowBizCafe.com

Nicole Kidman joins new Woody Allen film!

By Mack Chico

2009/03/26 at 12:00am

Movies

Nicole Kidman joins new Woody Allen film!

03.26.2009 | By Mack Chico |

Nicole Kidman will star in Woody Allen‘s next film, joining the already announced cast of Antonio Banderas, Josh Brolin, Anthony Hopkins, Freida Pinto and Naomi Watts.

The as-yet-untitled film is produced by Letty Aronson, Steve Tenenbaum and Jaume Roures. It is financed by Mediapro, the Spain-based company that also funded “Vicky Cristina Barcelona.”

Sony Pictures Classics will release Allen’s next completed film, “Whatever Works,” which opens theatrically on June 19.

Benicio del Toro, Sean Penn & Jim Carrey are ‘The Three Stooges’!

By Mack Chico

2009/03/26 at 12:00am

Movies

Benicio del Toro, Sean Penn & Jim Carrey are ‘The Three Stooges’!

03.26.2009 | By Mack Chico |

MGM and the Farrelly brothers are closing in on their cast for “The Three Stooges.”

Studio has set Sean Penn to play Larry, and negotiations are underway with Jim Carrey to play Curly, with the actor already making plans to gain 40 pounds to approximate the physical dimensions of Jerome “Curly” Howard.

The studio is zeroing in on Benicio Del Toro to play Moe.

The film is not a biopic, but rather a comedy built around the antics of the three characters that Moe Howard, Larry Fine and Howard played in the Columbia Pictures shorts.

The quest by the Peter and Bobby Farrelly to harness the project spans more than a decade and three studios. They first tried at Columbia, again at Warner Bros., and finally at MGM, where Worldwide Motion Picture Group chairman Mary Parent championed the cause and bought the WB-owned scripts and made a deal with Stooges rights holders C3.

Production will begin in early fall for a release sometime in 2010. The Farrellys, who wrote the script, are producing with their Conundrum partner Bradley Thomas, and Charlie Wessler.

C3 Entertainment principals Earl and Robert Benjamin will be executive producers.

Project will get underway after Penn completes the Asger Leth-directed Universal/Imagine Entertainment drama “Cartel.” He hasn’t done a comedy since the 1989 laffer “We’re No Angels.”

The Farrellys have long had their eyes on Del Toro to play Moe. Del Toro, who’s coming off “Che,” showed comic chops in the Guy Ritchie-directed “Snatch.”

The surprise is the emergence of Carrey to play Curly. Howard established the character as a seminal physical comedian, from the first time he appeared in the first Stooges short in 1934 until he suffered a stroke on the set in 1946.

Complete list of winners of the 15th annual SAG Awards

By Mack Chico

2009/01/26 at 12:00am

Movies

Complete list of winners of the 15th annual SAG Awards

01.26.2009 | By Mack Chico |

“Slumdog Millionaire” won best ensemble cast at the 15th Screen Actors’ Guild Awards Sunday in Los Angeles, while lead roles went to Sean Penn in “Milk” and Meryl Steep in “Doubt.” “I didn’t even buy a dress,” a surprised Streep said upon winning.

Penn who portrayed slain gay politican Harvey Milk said “as actors we don’t play gay/straight, we play human beings.”

He said it was a myth that actors are pitted against one another. “We’re all so proud and challenged by eachother.”

Heath Ledger won posthumously for his final role as the Joker in “The Dark Knight” while Kate Winslet won for best supporting actor in “The Reader” — a role which was nominated this week for best actress in the Academy Awards, for which she had previously won a Golden Globe for the supporting role.

Here’s the complete list of winners of the 15th annual Screen Actors Guild Awards:

Movies:

_Cast: “Slumdog Millionaire.”

_Actor in a leading role: Sean Penn, “Milk.”

_Actress in a leading role: Meryl Streep, “Doubt.”

_Supporting actor: Heath Ledger, “The Dark Knight.”

_Supporting actress: Kate Winslet, “The Reader.”

_Stunt ensemble: “The Dark Knight.”

Television:

_Drama series cast: “Mad Men.”

_Actor in a drama series: Hugh Laurie, “House.”

_Actress in a drama series: Sally Field, “Brothers & Sisters.”

_Comedy series cast: “30 Rock.”

_Actor in a comedy series: Alec Baldwin, “30 Rock.”

_Actress in a comedy series: Tina Fey, “30 Rock.”

_Actor in a movie or miniseries: Paul Giamatti, “John Adams.”

_Actress in a movie or miniseries: Laura Linney, “John Adams.”

_Stunt ensemble: “Heroes.”

Life Achievement: James Earl Jones.

By Pau Brunet

2009/01/19 at 12:00am

Movies

‘Paul Blart’ tops at box office!

01.19.2009 | By Pau Brunet |

Sony’s Kevin James laffer “Paul Blart Mall Cop” debuted to an estimated $33.8 million from 3,144 runs in another boom session at the domestic B.O. that saw unexpectedly strong results across the board.

The Martin Luther King. Jr. holiday weekend was up a whopping 31% over last year, and that was only for Friday through Sunday. Studios can look forward to more good business on Monday.

Like “Mall Cop,” Lionsgate’s horror pic “My Bloody Valentine 3-D” and Fox release “Notorious” overperformed in their openings

“Valentine” — the widest 3-D release to date — grossed an estimated $21.9 million from 1,033 3-D locations and 1,501 conventional runs to narrowly beat “Notorious” for third place, according to Rentrak.

“Notorious,” a biopic of slain rap artist Christopher Wallace, aka Notorious B.I.G., grossed an estimated $21.5 million from 1,638 theaters to post the best per-location average — $13,126 — of the weekend. Film was distributed by Fox but produced and marketed by Fox Searchlight. Opening is the biggest ever for the specialty unit.

Warner Bros.’ holdover sleeper hit “Gran Torino,” directed by and starring Clint Eastwood, gunned past “Valentine” and “Notorious” to come in second. Film declined a mere 25% to an estimated $22.2 million in its second weekend in wide release for a cume of $73.2 million.

The other new wide release was Paramount’s family comedy “Hotel for Dogs,” which also came in ahead of expectations with an estimated $17.7 million from 3,271 to place No. 5. Pic was produced by DreamWorks.

Paramount prexy of distribution Jim Tharp said “Hotel for Dogs” could ultimately do three or four times its opening number thanks to the long holiday weekend. Same applies to the other new releases.

“Certainly, ‘Hotel for Dogs’ came in at the top end of anyone’s expectations,” Tharp said.

On the specialty side, Searchlight’s “Slumdog Millionaire” enjoyed a noticeable bump from its Golden Globe wins.

The year-earlier sesh wasn’t weak: Par’s high-profile “Cloverfield” debuted to $40.1 million for the three days and Fox’s “27 Dresses” opened at $23 million. Rather, more films this year did more biz.

Even titles with overlapping auds managed to find their groove. “Mall Cop” and “Hotel for Dogs” both vied for families, although “Mall Cop” generally played to older kids.

“Ultimately, we got everybody,” Sony worldwide prexy of distribution Rory Bruer said.

“Mall Cop” is a victory for James, as it’s the first feature he’s toplined. Comedy was produced by Adam Sandler’s production shingle Happy Madison and cost $26 million to produce. Sony believes the film could hit $40 million by midnight on Monday.

Produced for under $15 million, “Valentine” should bring strong returns for Lionsgate. Most 3-D fare has been family or teen fare, such as “Hannah Montana/Miley Cyrus: Best of Both Worlds Concert Tour.”

Lionsgate said 3-D runs turned in revenues four times greater than conventional runs, thanks to higher ticket prices.

“This is the first time horror fans have gotten something in 3-D,” Lionsgate prexy of distribution Steve Rothenberg said, speaking of the digital iteration of the format. “Notorious,” produced for under $20 million and starring Jamal Woolard as Wallace, crossed over beyond its key demo, according to Fox. Film played slightly more to men.

Fox said the big surprise was that 40% of the audience was under age 25, even though Wallace — also known as Biggie Smalls — was killed more than a decade ago.

“He is a cultural icon that has touched a nerve and resonated with younger auds, proving the impact he’s had on the landscape,” Chris Aronson said.

Among the producers of “Notorious” is Sean Combs.

Elsewhere on the top 10 chart, Fox’s femme comedy “Bride Wars” declined only 44% in its second frame to an estimated $11.8 million from 3,228. Cume is $37.6 million in the pic’s 10th day in release.

Universal/Rogue Picture’s horror title “The Unborn” dipped a respectable 50% in its second weekend to an estimated $9.8 million from 2,359 for a cume of $33.1 million.

Ed Zwick’s drama “Defiance,” a Paramount Vantage release, placed No. 8 as it went wide. Film grossed an estimated $9.2 million from 1,789; cume is $9.5 million.

Christmas hit “Marley and Me,” from Fox, grossed an estimated $6.3 million from 2,952 runs for a cume of $132.7 million in its fourth sesh.

John Leguizamo to play ‘Cantinflas’ in biopic?

By Jack Rico

2009/01/13 at 12:00am

Movies

John Leguizamo to play ‘Cantinflas’ in biopic?

01.13.2009 | By Jack Rico |

As soon as I heard Cantinflas was announced as a major motion picture film, I immediately thought of colombian actor John Leguizamo as the perfect lead. For those who don’t know who Cantinflas is, he was the greatest film comedian Mexico ever produced. Leguizamo would be an obvious choice and here are the 3 reasons why:

1. He physically looks like him

2. He speaks Spanish (broken Spanish, but he speaks it)

and…

3. He’s a natural comedian

One problem producers will confront from the get go would be his Spanish. He has a Nuyorican accent he can’t shake – have you heard him in Love in the Time of Cholera playing a colombian? He sounds like… you guessed it, a Puerto Rican from New York. Leguizamo, who was born in Bogota, Colombia, will have to master an authentic Mexican accent without sounding like Speedy Gonzalez. If he does that, and Alejandro Gomez Monteverde can write a formidable script, we could see a watershed moment in Leguizamo’s acting career for the better. Salma Hayek did something similar with ‘Frida’ and the results were an Oscar nomination as best actress for that role. I don’t see anyone else with a recognizable name playing the Mexican icon, unless they go with an unknown, which would be a bad business move if the producers go that route. Let’s see what happens, folks!

Here is a pic of Leguizamo with a moustache. What do you think? Leave a comment below.

Below is the Variety report about the Cantinflas biopic:

Latino comic and actor Cantinflas, his real name is Fortino Mario Alfonso Moreno Reyes, who helped usher in the golden era of Mexican filmmaking in the 1940s and ’50s, will be the focus of a biopic by Alejandro Gomez Monteverde.

Alejandro Gomez Monteverde will co-write and direct “Cantinflas,” a biopic about the comedian and actor who helped usher in a golden era of Mexican filmmaking in the ’40s and ’50s.

NBC co-chairman Ben Silverman will serve as an exec producer on the feature film with Monteverde and TV producer Jay Weisleder producing. Monteverde, whose drama “Bella” won the People’s Choice Award at the 2006 Toronto Intl. Film Festival, will co-write the script with Jose Portillo.

Despite his debut to American audiences in “Around the World in 80 Days” (1956), Cantinflas is not well known in the English-speaking world.

After pitching the idea to Silverman, Weisleder told the reluctant exec to ask any Latino about Cantinflas. “The moment he did that he called me from a restaurant and said ‘I got 10 people following me. Everybody knows who he is. We gotta do this,’ ” Weisleder said.

As the founder and former owner of Reveille, Silverman remains attached as an exec producer on several Reveille features projects, which include the Kurt Cobain biopic at Universal and “Staked Plains” at Focus.

Weisleder worked with Silverman at Reveille and has several television projects in development, including the comedy “My Problems With Women,” exec produced by Justin Timberlake. Monteverde and Weisleder secured the rights with the late actor’s son, Mario Moreno Ivanova, who will serve as an associate producer on the project.

By Mack Chico

2008/11/25 at 12:00am

Movies

Clint Eastwood retires from acting!

11.25.2008 | By Mack Chico |

The Dirty Harry star says he has no plans to appear in films again after starring in Gran Torino, a drama about a racist veteran of the Korean War.

“That will probably do it for me as far as acting is concerned,” said the 78-year-old, who stressed he had no plans to stop directing films.

“You always want to quit while you are ahead,” he said. “You don’t want to be like a fighter who stays too long in the ring until you’re not performing at your best.”

His performance in Gran Torino, which is released in Britain in February and which he also directed, has already been tipped as worthy of an Oscar. The drama revolves around the relationship between a disgruntled war veteran and his young neighbour, an Asian American teenager who tries to steal his prized possession, a 1972 Gran Torino.

Eastwood worked as a petrol pump attendant, a bar-room piano player and a lumberjack before becoming an actor, where his 1959 western TV series Rawhide turned him into a household name and he was cast by Sergio Leone in the cowboy classic A Fistful of Dollars.

But his film direction now earns him his greatest acclaim. In the New Year he will direct The Human Factor, a drama about the 1995 Rugby World Cup, hosted by South Africa, with Morgan Freeman playing Nelson Mandela.

“Everybody thinks making films back to back is a big deal but they did it all the time in the old days,” he said.

However a friend of Eastwood said he would never rule out an acting comeback for the veteran star:

“If something comes along that attracts his attention or demands his involvement and he is still able to consider acting in a picture then who knows? Gran Torino was such a movie.

“But that is not his priority and he is not seeking an acting role,” the friend said.

Bond sets franchise record at the box office!

By Pau Brunet

2008/11/17 at 12:00am

Movies

Bond sets franchise record at the box office!

11.17.2008 | By Pau Brunet |

It’s a Bond market .

“Quantum of Solace,” with Daniel Craig returning as James Bond , easily made for the best opening weekend for the spy franchise, earning more than $67 million at the box office. The series’ first direct sequel opened with nearly $30 million more than its predecessor, 2006’s “Casino Royale.”

The top 20 movies at U.S. and Canadian theaters Friday through Sunday, followed by distribution studio, gross, number of theater locations, average receipts per location, total gross and number of weeks in release, as compiled Monday by Media By Numbers LLC:

1. “Quantum of Solace,” Sony/MGM, $67,528,882, 3,451 locations, $19,568 average, $67,528,882, one week.

2. ” Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa ,” Paramount, $35,017,301, 4,065 locations, $8,614 average, $116,905,195, two weeks.

3. ” Role Models ,” Universal, $11,150,030, 2,798 locations, $3,985 average, $37,577,245, two weeks.

4. ” High School Musical 3: Senior Year ,” Disney, $5,656,162, 3,202 locations, $1,766 average, $84,169,216, four weeks.

5. ” Changeling ,” Universal, $4,254,080, 1,896 locations, $2,244 average, $27,631,772, four weeks.

6. ” Zack and Miri Make a Porno ,” Weinstein Co., $3,146,312, 2,210 locations, $1,424 average, $26,465,482, three weeks.

7. “Soul Men,” MGM, $2,350,141, 2,048 locations, $1,148 average, $9,370,925, two weeks.

8. “The Secret Life of Bees,” Fox Searchlight, $2,338,279, 1,449 locations, $1,614 average, $33,627,359, five weeks.

9. ” Saw V ,” Lionsgate , $1,767,405, 2,002 locations, $883 average, $55,380,488, four weeks.

10. “Beverly Hills Chihuahua ,” Disney, $1,579,080, 1,617 locations, $977 average, $90,878,127, seven weeks.

By Mack Chico

2008/11/11 at 12:00am

Movies

MGM to show movies on YouTube!

11.11.2008 | By Mack Chico |

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.

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

By Mack Chico

2008/11/08 at 12:00am

Movies

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

11.8.2008 | By Mack Chico |

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.

By Mack Chico

2008/10/28 at 12:00am

Movies

Early Sneak Peak at ‘Angels & Demons’!

10.28.2008 | By Mack Chico |

Angels & Demons, the follow-up film to The Da Vinci Code, has many of the elements of the 2006 movie: star, director, a little controversy.What it doesn’t share with its predecessor, filmmakers would like you to know, is Tom Hanks’ hairstyle.

“It’s totally different” from Hanks’ slicked-back coif of the original, insists producer Brian Grazer. “It’s better. Everything is more contemporary. “

The adaptation of Dan Brown’s novel continues the sleuthing adventures of Robert Langdon (Hanks), a Harvard expert in religious symbols who discovers a conspiracy to destroy the Vatican.

Da Vinci collected $758 million worldwide, but even Grazer says the movie moved a little slowly. Angels, by contrast, sprints from crypts, catacombs and cathedrals.

In adapting the hugely successful Da Vinci novel, “I think we may have been too reverential toward it,” Grazer says. “We got all the facts of the book right, but the movie was a little long and stagey.”

In Angels, opening May 15, “Langdon doesn’t stop and give a speech,” Grazer says. “When he speaks, he’s in motion.”

Set in and around the Vatican, Brown’s Angels includes the murders of cardinals, who are mutilated with mysterious symbols. Church officials banned the crew from shooting in key locales, sometimes revoking permits that had been approved, Grazer says.

“Weirdly, even though there was so much controversy on The Da Vinci Code, we were able to shoot everywhere,” Grazer says. “We were in London, France, so it was harder to catch us.”

Because Angels is largely set at the Vatican, “we were pretty much in exile from the religious epicenter of the world,” he says.

Da Vinci Code was rebuked by the church and others for its depiction of history. The fact that Angels didn’t spark as much debate makes its allure less assured.

Paul Dergarabedian of box office tracking firm Media By Numbers says Angels will need to impress critics if it hopes to find success.

“Da Vinci Code didn’t get great reviews, but had controversy to help the box office,” he says. “Better reviews could make up that difference for Angels.”

That doesn’t mean Angels won’t generate any controversy. The film centers on an act of terrorism at the Vatican and examines the tension between science and faith.

“We’re living in a world that’s much more unstable,” Grazer says. “Therefore, our energy is focused on belief. This looks at what would happen when you have an act of terrorism designed to undermine that belief.”

Despite the contemporary topics, Grazer says the movie has no political undertones. “Both parties, through different means, don’t want terrorism to exist in the world,” he says.

As for any evolution-vs.-intelligent design parallels, “I’ll leave that to others.”

But he’s happy to talk about Hanks’ head — and body.

“I’m telling you, he’s got a scene where he’s swimming in Speedos, and he looks fantastic,” Grazer says. “He’s going to add 10 years to his career with that scene alone, just watch.”