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Category: Hollywood

  • Legendary moves ahead with Warcraft; Paula Patton, Colin Farrell in the mix

    Legendary moves ahead with Warcraft; Paula Patton, Colin Farrell in the mix

    MUMBAI: Legendary Pictures and Atlas Entertainment are casting up Warcraft, the movie adaptation of the hit Blizzard video game World Of Warcraft that Duncan Jones will helm. Word has it that Paula Patton is negotiating for a lead role and that another lead has been offered to Colin Farrell. Jones is testing other actors for the major roles. Production will begin in January and Charles Leavitt has written the script.

     

    The role-playing game takes place in a medieval-like setting where players control avatars that take on gryphons, dragons, zombies, werewolves and elves. Time travel and alien worlds also are part of the mix. The project is one of Legendary’s biggest and was supposed to be made at Warner Bros. Since Thomas Tull’s financing/production company moved over to Universal Pictures, it’s expected that the film will be relocated there as well.

     

    Patton is the lead in the upcoming Fox Searchlight film Baggage Claim and is coming off the hits 2 Guns and Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol. Farrell stars with Tom Hanks and Emma Thompson in Disney’s upcoming Oscar-season film Saving Mr. Banks and then the Akiva Goldsman-directed adaptation of the Marc Helprin novel Winter’s Tale.

  • Carmen Maura gets Lifetime Award at San Sebastian Filmfest

    Carmen Maura gets Lifetime Award at San Sebastian Filmfest

    NEW DELHI: Actress Carmen Maura has been presented with the Donostia Award at the 61st San Sebastian Film Festival.

     

    The event which was held in Spain presented pays tributes to the ones with an outstanding professional careers in Spanish cinema in the last few decades.

     

    The actress received her lifetime achievement award during the out-of-competition Official Selection presentation of her latest participation, Las brujas de Zugarramurdi directed by Álex de la Iglesia.

     

    Las brujas de Zugarramurdi is a delirious frenetic comedy featuring three desperate men who hold up a gold-buyers shop in the Puerta del Sol and then make a madcap getaway heading for Disneyland accompanied by the son of one of them. However, at the French border, they fall into the hands of some Basque witches who keep up the age-old custom of practising witchcraft and making fun of men. The film is the third time that Carmen Maura has worked with Álex de la Iglesia after her performances in La comunidad (Common Wealth, 2000), which won the actress the Silver Shell at the San Sebastián Film Festival, and 800 balas (800 Bullets, 2002). The cast of the film is completed by Hugo Silva, Mario Casas, Jaime Ordó?ez, Macarena Gómez, Carolina Bang and Terele Pávez.

     

    Maura was born in Madrid and started out as an actress in the theatre and small roles on television & films. She shot to fame thanks to the programme on TVE, Esta noche, directed by Fernando García Tola.

     

    Among the numerous acknowledgements that she has received throughout her career,  Maura has won four Goya Awards (for Mujeres al borde de un ataque de nervios, ?Ay Carmela!, La comunidad and Volver), the Best Actress Award at the Cannes Film Festival (for Volver), the Best Actress Award at the Venice Film Festival (for Mujeres al borde de un ataque de nervios), a nomination for the César for Best Actress (for Le bonheur est dans le pré),  a César Award for Best Supporting Actress (for Les femmes du 6?me étage) and two European Film Academy Awards (for Mujeres al borde de un ataque de nervios and ?Ay, Carmela!). She has also received the Film Academy Gold Medal, the Gold Medal for Merit in Fine Arts and the Knight of Honour Medal of the Order of Arts and Letters of France.

    The San Sebastian Festival commenced on 20 September with the opening gala at the Kursaal Auditorium presented by the actors Cayetana Guillén Cuervo and Unax Ugalde.

  • European Film Academy to honour Pedro Almod var with lifetime achievement

    European Film Academy to honour Pedro Almod var with lifetime achievement

    NEW DELHI: Spanish filmmaker Pedro Almodóvar is to receive the European Film Academy’s European achievement in world cinema for his outstanding body of work.

    Pedro Almodóvar will be an honorary guest at the 26th European Film Awards Ceremony on 7 December 2013 in Berlin, streamed live on ww.europeanfilmawards.eu.

    “I am very thankful for this award. From its creation, the European Film Academy has been very generous with me and my closest collaborators,” stated Pedro Almodóvar upon receiving the news, “I share with them the joy of this award”.

    With a background in independent theatre, Super-8-film making and underground magazines, Pedro Almodóvar’s early films were the heirs and witnesses of the brand new Spanish democracy. After a year and a half of eventful shooting on 16mm, in 1980 he opened Pepi, Luci, Bom, a no-budget film made as a co-operative effort with the rest of the crew and the cast, all beginners, except for Carmen Maura.

    In 1986, he founded the production company El Deseo S.A. with his brother Agustin. Their first project was Law of Desire. Since then, they have produced all the films that Pedro has written and directed, and have also produced other young directors.

    In 1988, Women on the verge of a nervous breakdown brought him international recognition and the Best Young Film award at the first European Film Awards. Since then, his films have opened all around the world to great acclaim. Pedro Almodóvar has won virtually every award there is and his films have played an important role in shaping the way we see not only Spain but also European cinema itself.

  • Five Asian world premieres compete at Tokyo fest

    Five Asian world premieres compete at Tokyo fest

    NEW DELHI: Five Asian films will have their world premieres in competition at the 26th Tokyo International Film Festival next month. The Festival will be held from 17-25 October.

     

    The entries include two films from Japanese directors, Fukada Koji’s Au revoir l’été and actor-turned-director Sakaki Hideo’s Disregarded People based on George Akiyama’s novel.

     

    Fukada’s debut film, Hospitalité (2010), debuted at the Tokyo festival three years ago in a now-retired section for local indies. His new film stars Nikaido Fumi as a teenager having a holiday romance.

     

    Non-Japanese Asian films competing are Ning Ying’s To Live and Die in Ordos from China, Jun Robles Lana’s dramaBarber’s Tales from the Philippines, and the Kim Ki-duk produced black comedy Red Family.

     

    Non-Asian films in the 15-strong competition include Daniele Luchetti’s drama Those Happy Days from Italy, Levan Koguashvili’s comedy Blind Dates from Georgia and Richard Ayoade’s thriller The Double from the UK.

     

    The jury, headed by Chinese director Chen Kaige, is comprised of South Korean actress Mun So-ri, Japanese actress Terajima Shinobu, UK-Australian producer Chris Brown and American director Chris Weitz.

     

    They are 22 Japanese feature films in the lineup, representing more than half the Asian titles. There are also six films from Taiwan, part of an already-announced special focus, and three each from China and Philippines.

     

    The Special Screenings section includes films by Shinjo Takehiko, Kumazawa Naoto and Motoki Katsuhide alongside films directed by Luc Besson, Sofia Coppola and Steven Soderbergh.

     

    Dante Lam’s Unbeatable and Vicki Zhao’s So Young screen in the World Focus section with Alex van Warmerdam’s Borgman (Netherlands), Amal Escalante’s Heli (Mexico) and Ulrich Seidl’s Love trilogy (Austria).

     

    Two new competitive sections have been introduced this year, Asian Future and Japanese Cinema Splash, to replace the long-running Winds of Asia-Middle East (2007-2012) and Japanese Eyes (2004-2012) respectively.

     

    The new Asian Future section for first- and second-time directors includes Juno MAK’s Rigor Mortis, Mikhail RED’s Rekorder and Kim Jeong-hun’s Korean Academy of Film Arts (KAFA) graduation feature Stray Dogs.

     

    Japanese Cinema Splash, includes new films by Ogata Akira, Saito Hisashi and Matsui Daigo. It will also screen the winning film of the 35th Pia Film Festival (14-20 September 2013).

  • Taylor Swift joins cast of The Giver

    Taylor Swift joins cast of The Giver

    MUMBAI: The Lois Lowry novel adapted by The Weinstein Company and Walden Media has got Taylor Swift as part of its cast. The latest addition to the cast was Katie Holmes.

     

    Swift will be playing Rosemary, the last teen mentored by ‘The Giver’ before he meets Jonas. The film is written by Michael Mitnick and is scheduled to start filming in South Africa this October.

     

    Jeff Briedges is playing the title character while Meryl Streep is the clan leader. Brenton Thwaites, Katie Holmes, Alexander Skarsgard, Odeya Rush and Cameron Monaghan are also part of the cast.

     

    The release date set for the movie is 15 August 2014.

  • Cate Blanchett to make directorial debut with The Dinner

    Cate Blanchett to make directorial debut with The Dinner

    MUMBAI: The film adaptation of Herman Koch’s novel The Dinner will see Cate Blanchett behind the cameras. The movie is produced by Cotty Chubb and the executive producers are Eva Maria Daniels and Olga Segura.

     

    The novel is about two families who are struggling to make a tough decision about their teenage childrens’ lives. The whole movie will happen over a dinner. The book became a bestseller in Europe in 2009.

     

    Oren Moverman who worked on ‘The Messenger’ is adapting the script. He is repped by WME and New York Office. Blanchett received acclaim for her movie ‘Blue Jasmine’, directed by Woody Allen. She is repped by CAA and RGM Artists.

  • Matt Bomer to play Montgomery Clift in Indie feature

    Matt Bomer to play Montgomery Clift in Indie feature

    MUMBAI: The heart-throb, who plays the lead in White Collar, is all set to play Montgomery Clift in the biopic of the legendary star. Matt Bomer has been finalised to take on the role of Clift. Financed by Pier 3 pictures’ Michael Din, Janine Glaime and Huri Henley-Cohn will begin shooting sometime in 2014.

     

    Scripted by Christopher Lovick, the movie directed by Larry Moss will have Bomer portraying the Hollywood icon. He was last seen in The Normal Heart along with Julia Roberts and Mark Ruffalo.

     

    Clift was a big Bollywood male star, rivaled to Marlon Brando but a car accident scarred his good looks, leaving him haunted for the rest of his life. He received an Oscar for one of his last performances – Judgement at Nuremberg.

  • Runner Runner starting Affleck & Timberlake in theatres 4 Oct in India

    Runner Runner starting Affleck & Timberlake in theatres 4 Oct in India

    MUMBAI: The Brad Furman helmer is all set to come to India a week after its international release on 27 September. Written by Brian Koppelman and David Levien, it stars Ben Affleck, Justin Timberlake and Gemma Arterton in the lead.

     

    The story is about Richie (Timberlake), a graduate from Princeton who thinks he has been swindled by Ivan Block (Affleck) and so he travels to Costa Rica to confront him. Richie is tempted by Blocks’ promise of wealth and falls for his associate Rebecca (Arterton) into a world of fantasies.

     

    He then gets into a fix of joining Block or handing him over to the FBI. Director Furman elaborates:  “Technology has led us to a world where everything comes very quickly, which has expedited this concept of the American dream.  Young people today want everything faster – especially money.”

  • Harrison Ford to receive lifetime achievement award

    Harrison Ford to receive lifetime achievement award

    MUMBAI: The Zurich Film Festival is all set to bestow upon Harrison Ford the ‘Lifetime Achievement Award’ in the form of ‘Golden Eye’.  He will get the honour on 4 October.

     

    Ford will be on a pan Europe tour to promote his upcoming film Ender’s Game by Gavin Hood. In honour of Ford, the Zurich festival will hold a special screening of Raiders of the Lost Ark.

     

    In 2002, he won the prestigious Cecile D Mille Award at the Golden Globes. In 1994 he was named as the box office star of the century.

     

    The 9th annual Zurich film festival will run from 26 September to 6 October.

  • Kelsey Grammer joins Expendables 3

    Kelsey Grammer joins Expendables 3

    MUMBAI: A deal is almost set for Grammer to be playing the role of Bonaparte, an ex-mercenary who will be helping the Expendables in their mission. He had been known to be selected to play the role of shrink-turned-radio host Dr Frasier Crane; he has now switched to being the tough guy.

     

    The cast already includes Sylvester Stallone, Jason Statham, Harrison Ford, Mel Gibson, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Terry Crews, Antonio Banderas, Jet Li, Dolph Lundgren and Wesley Snipes.

     

    Grammer recently worked with Stallone in Reach me. He has a new series line up with Lionsgate’s Lawrence. He is repped by UTA and Category 5’s  Brian Sher.