ITV

Category: International

  • Sequel of The Avengers on cards

    Sequel of The Avengers on cards

    MUMBAI: Disney CEO Bob Iger has announced that a follow-up of The Avengers was on the cards. He also said similar follow-ups are expected of films like Iron Man, Thor and Captain America.
    Repeating previous announcements made by Marvel Studios, the CEO said a third Iron Man and a second Thor are scheduled for 2013 and a sequel to Captain America: The First Avenger is in the works for 2014 release. He however gave no timeline for an Avengers sequel.

    Iger said that Avengers had shattered domestic box-office records with a $207.1 million opening weekend for a global performance of more than $702 million to date.
    He also revealed that there are Avengers-based attractions in the works for some of Disney‘s theme parks.

  • Arnold Schwarzenegger to return to action films with Ten

    Arnold Schwarzenegger to return to action films with Ten

    MUMBAI: Arnold Schwarzenegger has decided to return to making action fims with Ten, a project written by screenwriter Skip Woods and director David Ayer.

    Ten revolves around the members of an elite DEA task force who depart from their usual operations and steal millions from a drug cartel safe house. Just when the team thinks they got away with it, someone begins to take out them out one by one.

    The film, that will be financed by QED International, will be distributed in the US by Open Road Films.

    Schwarzenegger‘s casting puts the project on the runway after several years of development. Bruce Willis and Patrick Alessandrin (District 13: Ultimatum) once were attached to star and direct, respectively.

    Schwarzenegger, who is acting in The Tomb, will appear in The Expendables 2 that is to be released in August.

    Ayer, known initially as a screenwriter with films like Training Day under his belt, had made his directorial debut with 2005‘s crime drama Harsh Times.

  • New dates of Rome fest announced

    New dates of Rome fest announced

    MUMBAI: The International Rome Film Festival‘s board has officially approved a plan to shift the 7-year-old festival‘s dates to November. Accordingly, the festival that was to be held from 27 October to 4 November will now be held from 9 to 17 November.

    With the announcement of the new dates, the Rome festival has avoided a direct conflict with the 30-year-old Turin Film Festival that will take place from 23 November to 1 December.

    The organisers of the Rome festival believe that by changing its dates to November, the festival‘s The Business Street market event will gain stronger footing as a halfway point between the big markets at the Toronto International Film Festival in September and the Berlin International Film Festival in February. They are also in a hope that with a late-in-the-year date the festival might serve as a new springboard for winter releases either vying for Oscar eligibility or the Christmas time box office.

    The Rome festival board also approved the festival‘s budget that is expected to be $14.3 million, lower than in previous editions of the festival but in the same range as more established festivals including the rival Venice Film Festival.

  • The Avengers grosses $ 151.5 mn in 52 territories

    The Avengers grosses $ 151.5 mn in 52 territories

    MUMBAI: A strong opening in Russia adding to the extraordinarily strong holdovers in key overseas markets has propelled The Avengers to a commanding No. 1 position in the foreign theatrical circuit with a gross of $151.5 million in 52 territories.

    The film‘s worldwide cume including the film‘s record $200.3 million domestic opening stands at $641.8 million. The weekend‘s foreign tally was a mere 18 per cent down from the opening weekend figure last round, an indication of the film‘s incredible staying power at the box office.

    So far, The Avengers‘ biggest market is the UK where it has collected a total of $48.1 million; other key markets being Mexico ($40.2 million), Australia ($32.2 million), Korea ($31.3 million), Brazil ($31 million), France ($26.4 million), Italy ($18.8 million),Germany ($18.3 million), China ($17.4 million), Spain ($14.4 million), Taiwan ($14.3 million) and the Philippines ($11.5 million).

    As of today, The Avengers is far and away 2012‘s biggest hit on the foreign circuit so far eclipsing Titanic 3D that grossed $98.9 million a fortnight ago. Furthermore, the film has already out-grossed its predecessors of Marvel Productions including Iron Man 2 (that registered $311.5 million in total overseas gross), 2011‘s Thor ($268.3 million) and 2008‘s Iron Man ($266.7 million).

    Imax said it grossed $6.1 million from 174 digital only locations overseas, including a $1.1 million opening day Saturday in China.

  • Lionsgate to release The Hunger Games in China

    Lionsgate to release The Hunger Games in China

    MUMBAI: Lionsgate has been green lighted to release The Hunger Games in China in the first half of June. The film, starring Jennifer Lawrence has already grossed $620 million in worldwide box office.

    China watchers were likely surprised by the smooth entry of the Lionsgate blockbuster into China, given the film‘s anti-authoritarian themes and the current politically sensitive climate in the country.

    “China is already one of the leading territories at the international box office, and the launch of The Hunger Games in this key market is another sign of the franchise‘s continuing emergence as a truly global phenomenon,” Lionsgate Motion Picture Group co-chairs Patrick Wachsberger and Rob Friedman said in a statement.

    The moves comes as a surprise as the Suzanne Collins books on which Hunger Games is based has not sold as widely overseas as in North America.

    Now, with Hunger Games set for release in China, Lionsgate is hopeful that the Catching Fire sequel would also get approval for a release in China.

    The Hunger Games release, in both dubbed and subtitled prints, will be executed by The China Film Group and Lionsgate partner Talent International.

    The Hunger Games will be among the first major Hollywood films to be released in China under the landmark revenue sharing agreement announced in February that allows foreign distributors to collect up to 25 per cent of a film‘s receipts in China.

    Back in 2010, Avatar, the highest grossing movie in China ever, was unexpectedly pulled early from 2D screens amidst reports that propaganda officials had deemed the film‘s domestic market dominance undesirable and its storyline too similar to a sensitive issue of the day: the forced eviction of Chinese villagers to make way for civic and commercial development.

  • Ronald Tutor to sell off his film interests

    Ronald Tutor to sell off his film interests

    MUMBAI: Ronald Tutor, a Hollywood investor involved in purchase of the Miramax film library from Walt Disney Co.in 2010 has said that he‘s days away from selling his film interests.
    The sale could be executed within 10 days, he said while on a conference call with analysts who cover his Tutor Perini Corp. (TPC), However It was not clear if the Miramax interests were part of his sale plans.
    “I‘m probably a week to 10 days from executing, selling my movie interests,” Tutor said on the call. “If for some reason that, awful as it may sound, doesn‘t go through, I‘d probably have another stock sale in June or July,” Tutor has reportedly said.
    The construction magnet‘s film investments extend beyond Miramax, it is understood. His ventures include the Intermedia film library, owner of Timecop, The Wedding Planner and Basic Instinct 2.
    Tutor is an investor in Filmyard Holding LLC, the entity led by Colony Capital LLC that bought the Miramax library in 2010 for $660 million. It may be interesting to note that since the acquisition, Miramax signed licensing agreements valued at $325 million and negotiated a $500 million refinancing to reduce borrowing costs.

  • Sophia Loren honoured

    Sophia Loren honoured

    MUMBAI: In an event organised by The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences on Wednesday, yesteryear actress Sophia Loren was honoured. This comes 50 years after she won the Oscar for Two Women.
     
    “The Academy Award changed my life completely. It helped me to believe in myself and encouraged me to push my own artistic boundaries,” the actress reportedly said in her speech. “There are no words to describe my emotions right now. It is hard to imagine that 50 years have passed since I welcomed my Oscar to my home,” she added.
     
    The 77-year-old actress was the first person to win an Oscar for a foreign-language role for her role in ‘Two Women‘ in the year 1961.
     
    Veteran Hollywood celebrities like John Travolta, Tom Hanks and Benigni too turned up to honour the actress.

  • Oz film The Sapphires for Cannes fest

    Oz film The Sapphires for Cannes fest

    An Australian film The Sapphires has been added to the Cannes Film Festival‘s ‘Official Selection‘.

    The film is an adaptation of the stage musical that sees three Aboriginal singers plucked from a remote Aboriginal mission to become the next Supremes and entertain the troops in Vietnam.

    The film, produced by Goalpost Pictures‘ Rosemary Blight and Kylie du Fresne and first time feature director Wayne Blair, has been accepted to screen in official selection, out of competition in a midnight screening.

    The film, that is Australia‘s only feature film to be selected by the festival this year stars Deborah Mailman, Jessica Mauboy, Chris O‘Dowd and newcomers Shari Sebbens and Miranda Tapsell.

    A Hopscotch Films/Entertainment One release, The Sapphires is set to release in August.

  • Universal teams up with Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci

    Universal teams up with Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci

    MUMBAI: Universal Pictures has signed a two-year first-look production deal with one of the leading writing/producing teams in the entertainment industry, Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci, and their K/O Paper Products banner.

    The duo will kick off their new relationship with Universal by reimagining titles from the studio‘s library including Van Helsing and The Mummy, according to Universal Pictures‘ chairman, Adam Fogelson and co-chairman Donna Langley.

    It is reported that Tom Cruise is set to star and produce the remake of 2004 vampire movie Van Helsing. It will be one of the first works of Kurtzman and Orci under their new two-year production deal with Universal Pictures.

    Earlier, Kurtzman and Orci have collaborated with some of the industry‘s top creative minds including J.J. Abrams, with whom they wrote the third installment of Mission: Impossible that grossed nearly $400 million at the worldwide box office.

    In 2007, they wrote Transformers and went on to write Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen in 2009. Together, these films grossed more than $1.5 billion worldwide.

    More recently, the pair wrote and executive produced 2009‘s Star Trek that grossed more than $385 million worldwide.

  • Italian film industry favours Roman film fest director

    Italian film industry favours Roman film fest director

    MUMBAI: As many as 150 signatories including renowned Italian filmmakers Bertolucci, Olmi, Bellocchio, Salvatores, Crialese as well as Toni Servillo, Stefania Sandrelli, the producers Riccardo Tozzi and Pietro Valsecchi, and singer-songwriter Franco Battiato have favoured the new director of the Rome Film Festival Marco Müller.
    In an open letter addressed to politicians and administrators; the signatories asked that Müller be placed in the “conditions to guarantee that an all too near 2012 edition takes place”. They also wanted his contract as director of the Rome Film Festival be ended.
    Marco Müller‘s nomination as artistic director on 16 March has in fact still not been turned into a signed contract. According to rumours, the former director of the Venice Film Festival is becoming increasingly worried with regards to timing and has not made a mystery of the fact that he considers Cannes as a deadline.
    The next board of directors‘ meeting of the Fondazione Cinema per Roma, which could lead to a conclusion of the matter, will take place on Friday, assured the President Paolo Ferrari.
    The Rome Film Festival 2012 is scheduled to take place in October or November this year.