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Category: Hollywood

  • ‘Inside Llewyn Davis’ tops National Society of Film Critics Awards

    ‘Inside Llewyn Davis’ tops National Society of Film Critics Awards

    MUMBAI: The National Society of Film Critics, made up of 56 of America’s most distinguished writers on film, on4 January, Saturday voted Inside Llewyn Davis the Best Picture of 2013 at its 48th annual awards voting meeting.

     

    The Society, using a weighted ballot system, held the meeting at the Elinor Bunin Munroe Center as guests of the Film Society of Lincoln Center.

     

    With four wins, Inside Llewyn Davis led the awards. Oscar Isaac, who plays the struggling folk singer in the film, won the group’s award for best actor. In addition to Best Actor, it also won the Best Direction (Joel and Ethan Coen), Best Cinematography (Bruno Delbonnel), and Best Picture.

     

    Other winners included Best Actress to Cate Blanchett for Blue Jasmine, Best Supporting Actor to James Franco for Spring Breakers, Best Supporting Actress to Jennifer Lawrence for American Hustle, Best Foreign Language Film to Blue Is the Warmest Color and Best Non-Fiction Film to Joshua Oppenheimer for The Art of Killing.

  • Warner Bros. is the highest earning Hollywood studio of 2013

    Warner Bros. is the highest earning Hollywood studio of 2013

    MUMBAI: In a record-breaking year, Warner Bros. Pictures emerged as the top-grossing studio for 2013, ranking number one in domestic, international and worldwide market shares. Reportedly, the Studio was at the number one spot in global market share in 2013 with $5.04 billion in global ticket sales, followed by Disney and Universal.

     

    Warner Bros.’s domestic revenue was $1.9 billion, while its overseas haul was $3.14 billion for a total $5.04 billion, up from $4.25 in 2012. While Disney’s domestic revenue reached at $1.72 billion, up 11 percent over 2012 and international revenue was at $3.01 billion; Universal’s revenue clocked at $1.9 billion domestic and $3.14 billion internationally.

     

    Warner Bros. president of Domestic Distribution Dan Fellman; president of International Distribution Veronika Kwan Vandenberg; president of Worldwide Marketing and International Distribution, Pictures and Sue Kroll made the announcement recently.

     

    Fellman said in a release, “We are extremely proud of all the remarkable benchmarks reached in 2013.  These terrific numbers speak to the diversity of our slate, which has enabled us to deliver great entertainment to a broad range of audiences throughout the year.”

     

    Warner Bros. in the year produced a varied variety of films reaching out to audiences all over the world. Two current hits, still in theatres, are among the Studio’s highest-grossing films for the year: The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug in partnership with New Line Cinema and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures (MGM), at $659 million worldwide and counting; and Gravity at $663 million to date.

     

    The Summer blockbuster Man of Steel from Warner Bros. Pictures and Legendary Pictures, was the Studio’s top-grossing release for the year at $668 million globally. The other movies that were the highlight at Box Office include Warner Bros. Pictures and Legendary Pictures Pacific Rim with $411 million; The Hangover Part III also in partnership with Legendary, at $362 million; The Great Gatsby in partnership with Village Roadshow Pictures, at $351 million; New Line Cinema’s The Conjuring with $318 million; and We’re the Millers also from New Line, at $270 million.

     

    Interestingly, for a Hollywood studio, it is just the second time to have achieved such a business. Earlier, in 2001 Paramount had made the same mark.

  • 2014 Writer’s Guild of America nominations unveiled

    2014 Writer’s Guild of America nominations unveiled

    MUMBAI: The Writers Guild of America (WGA) recently announced the nominees for the 2014 WGA Awards. The list includes adapted screenplay, original screenplay and documentary screenplay.

     

    In the Best Adapted Screenplay category, the WGA Awards 2014 nominees are: Tracy Letts for August: Osage County, directed by John Well and starring Meryl Streep, Julia Roberts, Chris Cooper, Juliette Lewis, Ewan McGregor, and Dermot Mulroney; Richard Linklater, Julie Delpy, and Ethan Hawke for Before Midnight, the trio’s sequel to both Before Sunrise and Before Sunset; Billy Ray for Captain Phillips, directed by Paul Greengrass, and starring Tom Hanks; Peter Berg for Lone Survivor, directed by Berg, and starring Mark Wahlberg, Taylor Kitsch, Emile Hirsch, Eric Bana, and Ben Foster; and Terence Winter for The Wolf of Wall Street, directed by Martin Scorsese, and starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Jonah Hill and Jean Dujardin.

     

    The Best Original Screenplay nominations for the WGA Awards 2014 include Eric Warren Singer and David O. Russell for American Hustle, directed by Russell and starring Bradley Cooper, Amy Adams, Christian Bale, Jeremy Renner and Jennifer Lawrence; Woody Allen for Blue Jasmine, directed by Allen and starring Cate Blanchett, Sally Hawkins, and Alec Baldwin; Craig Borten and Melisa Wallack for Dallas Buyers Club, directed by Jean-Marc Vallée, and starring Matthew McConaughey, Jared Leto, and Jennifer Garner; Spike Jonze for Her, directed by Jonze, and starring Joaquin Phoenix, Amy Adams, and the voice of Scarlett Johansson; and Bob Nelson for Nebraska, directed by Alexander Payne, and starring Bruce Dern, Will Forte, and June Squibb.

     

    Joel and Ethan Coen’s Inside Llewyn Davis, and Alfonso Cuarón and Jonás Cuarón’s Gravitywere some of the surprising snubs. The former is a well-received comedy-drama, while the latter is an equally well-received and immensely popular thriller mixed with melodrama. Both are strong Best Picture Oscar contenders.

  • Paul Walker’s character to retire in ‘Fast and Furious’ next film

    Paul Walker’s character to retire in ‘Fast and Furious’ next film

    MUMBAI: It was a tragic incident for the movie lover when in November last year, actor Paul Walker died in an accident. The actor, who had become synonymous with the Fast and Furiouswas working on the seventh installment of the movie when he lost his life in the accident, also leaving Universal Studios in a quandary about the future of the film.

     

    However, now the Studio has decided the fate of the movie. In a new move, it has decided to “retire” the character of Brian O’Conner in the popular action film franchise, Fast and the Furious. According to a report in the The Hollywood Reporter (THR), the Studio would “tweak the script and add scenes so footage of the late actor’s Brian O’Conner character can still be used — but the franchise can continue.” And the Studio plans to use all earlier footage shot with the actor before his untimely death.

    The writer, director and producer who came up with the plan to tweak the existing script allowing Walker’s character to be written out of the story are James Wan, Chris Morgan and Jeffrey Kirschenbaum, respectively.

     

    Since the release date of the next installment in the popular franchise, Fast & the Furious 7, has been pushed to April 2015, this delay provides enough time for additional scenes to be written and shot.

     

    This news comes soon after the coroner’s report that revealed the car in which Walker was a passenger when he died was going over 100 miles per hour. According to the report published in THR, the driver Roger Rodas lost control for “unknown reasons.”

  • Seth MacFarlane releases the first look of his new film

    Seth MacFarlane releases the first look of his new film

    MUMBAI: The writer of popular shows Family Guy, American Dad and Ted, Seth MacFarlane, has now written and directed A Million Ways to Die in the West.

     

    The Western comedy stars Charlize Theron, Neil Patrick Harris, Amanda Seyfried and the writer himself. In the film, MacFarlane will be seen playing the role of a humble sheep farmer, Albert, who finds himself humiliated when his girlfriend (Seyfried) leaves him for the dapper gent who runs their town’s local “moustachery”. Luckily, he learns to find his courage when he meets a more age-appropriate love interest (Theron), the mysterious wife of an infamous outlaw.

     

    The photo for his Western comedy A Million Ways to Die in the West shows MacFarlane running into his ex (Amanda Seyfried) and her new love interest (Neil Patrick Harris). Charlize Theron is also in the photo for the film, in which she plays a gunslinger helping MacFarlane’s character find his courage. The film centers on a sheepherder (MacFarlane) who loses his girlfriend after chickening out of a gunfight.  MacFarlane is directing the project, which is his followup to his raunchy comedy hit Ted.

     

    MRC and Universal are co-financing A Million Ways to Die in the West, which is slated to hit theaters 30 May. MacFarlane 2012 directorial debut Ted made nearly $550million at the box office.

  • Stan Lee reveals Spiderman 2 teaser

    Stan Lee reveals Spiderman 2 teaser

    MUMBAI: Comic legend Stan Lee revealed a new Amazing Spider-Man 2 trailer via Sony Pictures to begin 2014. The first trailer of the movie was released at the beginning of December and Lee presents the new one where with a one-minute promo for the superhero movie sequel, he tells fans how excited he is to see Spidey back on the big screen again.

     

    In December, it was revealed that the fourth film in the Spider-Man franchise will include Venom and the Sinister Six. There’s signs of the Sinister Six in the trailer as the six doors open up at what we assume is OsCorp.

     

    Andrew Garfield revealed recently that the fourth film wouldn’t exactly be about him, since he’s only currently contracted for three films.

     

    However, the Amazing Spider-Man 2 release date is 2 May, 2014. Stars Andrew Garfield and Emma Stone will be returning as Peter Parker and Gwen Stacy, Jamie Foxx (Electro) will also be in the film, along with Sally Fields, Dane DeHaan, Paul Giamatti, and Colm Feore. The Amazing Spider-Man 3 will hit theaters on 10 June, 2016. And, The Amazing Spider-Man 4 will release on 4 May, 2018.

  • Stephen Colberts blink-and-miss cameos in The Hobbit

    Stephen Colberts blink-and-miss cameos in The Hobbit

    Anyone who watches The Colbert Report knows host Stephen Colbert is obsessed with anything Tolkien. The director of the Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit franchises, Peter Jackson, even describes him as the biggest Tolkien geek he knows.

     

    And after countless show dedications to the franchises and a set visit, it appears Colbert finally lived out his nerd fantasy in The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug.

     

    It’s easy to miss, but Colbert disguised as a Laketown spy has been seen in the film. Colbert was not the only one to join in the fun – his family joined him! His two sons can be seen running across the screen and his wife is shown lighting a match.

     

    The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug is the second film in The Hobbit trilogy. It opened 13 December and is still doing well on the box office.

  • Beyonce slammed for sampling NASA shuttle audio clip

    Beyonce slammed for sampling NASA shuttle audio clip

    Dentsu wins at DMA Asia awards, Snapdeal appoints Amitava Ghosh, Askme launches TVC, SonySinger and actor Beyonce has been criticised for using an audio clip related to the space shuttle Challenger disaster in the love song “XO” from her fifth studio album “Beyonce,” which released earlier this month.

     

    The song “XO,” which was written and produced by Ryan Tedder and Terius Nash, also known as “The Dream”, includes an audio segment involving NASA’s then public affairs officer Steve Nesbitt on Jan 28, 1986.

     

    “Flight controllers here are looking very carefully at the situation. Obviously a major malfunction,” Nesbitt said at the time, when the Challenger shuttle exploded 73 seconds into its flight, over the Atlantic Ocean, off the coast of central Florida, leading to the deaths of its seven crew members.

     

    Former NASA employees and NASA families have slammed Beyonce for sampling audio from the space shuttle Challenger explosion on her new song “XO”.

     

    Beyonce responded in a statement to ABC:

     

    My heart goes out to the families of those lost in the Challenger disaster. The song ‘XO’ was recorded with the sincerest intention to help heal those who have lost loved ones and to remind us that unexpected things happen, so love and appreciate every minute that you have with those who mean the most to you. The songwriters included the audio in tribute to the unselfish work of the Challenger crew with hope that they will never be forgotten.financial  – Indiantelevision.com AD Linx dated 10 August

  • Keira Knightly thinks Hollywood should take feministic approach

    Keira Knightly thinks Hollywood should take feministic approach

    We may think that the Hollywood has done justice in representing the causes of women, but no! According to actor Keira Knightley, Hollywood has a “long way” to go when it comes to women gaining importance in the industry.

     

    Reportedly, the actor thinks that even though there are more women centric films coming out now, the numbers are really less. “Hollywood has a really long way to go. I don’t think anyone can deny that, really, and I think as much as you are getting more women playing lead roles…they’re still pretty few and far between,” she was reported as saying in the Harper’s Bazaar magazine.

     

    The actor is known for her performances in Bend It Like Beckham, Pirates Of The Caribbean and Pride and Prejudice.

  • Carly Ray Jepsen steps in Cinderellas shoes

    Carly Ray Jepsen steps in Cinderellas shoes

    The pop singer Carly Rae Jepsen, who rose to fame in 2012 with her pop single “Call Me Maybe,” will go from the concert stage to the theatre stage early next year when Jepsen will also make her Broadway debut in the title role of Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Cinderella.

     

    Jepsen will step into the glass slippers from 4 Feb onwards for a 12-week run. She will be joining Fran Drescher, who is also making her debut on the same date and has been cast as the cruel stepmother. Jepsen is replacing Laura Osnes, who will complete her yearlong run in January.

     

    Rae Jepsen, 28, grew up with dreams of acting on Broadway and performed in high school productions like Annie, Grease and The Wiz in British Columbia before turning her focus to creating her own music. She also attended the Canadian College of Performing Arts after high school.

    Jepsen is also working on a new album planned for release next year. Call Me Maybe sold over 10 million copies in 2012, when it was the best-selling digital single worldwide.