ITV

Category: International

  • Sequel to The Muppets in offing

    Sequel to The Muppets in offing

    MUMBAI: Disney has decided to make a sequel of The Muppets.The family movie, starring Jason Segel and Amy Adams alongside the late Jim Henson‘s puppet creations, claimed the Best Song Academy Award for Man or Muppet at the recent Oscars.

    The film proved to be a hit with film fans when it raked in $ 154.8 million worldwide upon its release last year.
     
    Segel, who co-wrote The Muppets with screenwriter Nicolas Stoller, will not be involved in the writing process this time around due to his other film and TV commitments. "My goal was to bring The Muppets back and I think that I achieved that. It was half a decade of my life and I just want to take a minute to concentrate on more human related projects," Segel has been quoted to have said.

    The Muppets director James Bobin will help Stoller come up with a new adventure for Kermit the Frog and Miss Piggy.

  • Warner picks rights of Bolivar

    Warner picks rights of Bolivar

    MUMBAI: Warner Bros. has picked up the making rights of Sean Rubin’s upcoming graphic novel Bolivar from Archaia Entertainment. The film will be produced by Akiva Goldsman and Kerry Foster under their Weed Road banner.


    Written and illustrated by Rubin, the graphic novel centres on a young girl named Sybil who moves to New York and finds out her neighbour is Bolivar, the last living dinosaur. Despite Sybil‘s persistent efforts, Bolivar refuses to befriend her.
     
    The dinosaur is somewhat of a recluse, tucked away from the world Sybil so desperately wants him to explore with her. He soon realizes how much she means to him and that he would risk everything for her.


    Bolivar, intended to be an animated feature, will be written and directed by Irish filmmaker Kealan O’Rourke.


    The graphic novel is due out in May next year.

  • Mila Kunis to play Jacqueline Kennedy

    Mila Kunis to play Jacqueline Kennedy

    MUMBAI: Most likely Mila Kunis will essay the role of Jacqueline Kennedy in a new film. She is in talks to feature as the wife of former US president John F Kennedy in the film to be directed by Lee Daniels. If Kunis signs on, she will become the latest actress to portray Jackie Kennedy.

    Daniels has written a new screenplay called The Butler, about a staffer Eugene Allen, who served in the White House for 34 years serving eight different presidents from 1952, it is understood.
     
    Also linked to the project are Hugh Jackman, John Cusack and Oprah Winfrey.

    Earlier, Katie Holmes played US’s first lady in The Kennedys, the History Channel mini-series.

  • Journey… stays strong in 4h week too

    Journey… stays strong in 4h week too

    MUMBAI: With no strong competition, Journey 2: The Mysterious Island held on to the top box office spot grossing $14.7 million from 6,600 screens in 52 territories.

    The family adventure co-starring Josh Hutcherson and Dwayne Johnson opened at No. 4 in Germany by roping in $1.7 million from 438 screens. Till now, Journey 2’s total foreign box office stands at $184.5 million, that is 29 per cent more than the overseas tally compiled by Journey To The Center Of The Earth.

    Universal’s 3D animation title, Dr. Seuss’The Lorax, that opened No. 1 domestically, tested international waters on the weekend by way of 43 Middle Eastern dates, grossed $500,000. The distributor plans a big overseas push late this month for Easter holidays. More than 60 territories will play the adaptation of the children’s classic over the next five months.
     
    Opening in eight markets, Twentieth Century Fox’s romantic comedy This Means War drew in $14.1 million in the weekend playing at 3,962 screens in 51 markets and grossing an overseas gross total to $43.2 million.

    Making its debut in five markets, Universal’s Safe House hoisted its foreign gross total to $51.6 million thanks to $10.8 million weekend at 3.500 situations in 50 territories.

    Fourth was DreamWorks/Disney’s young-man-and-horse drama, War Horse, that made $10.6 million in the weekend playing in 52 territories. The total foreign gross total of the film now stands at $79.1 million.

    No 5 was Director Martin Scorsese’s Hugo that grossed $9.6 million in the weekend at 2,091 venues in 34 territories.

  • AFCA announces winners

    AFCA announces winners

    The Australian Film Critics Association (AFCA) has announced its winners for its 2012 film awards, focused primarily on Australian productions.
     
    Thriller Snowtown was the big winner of the event winning four awards in the best Australian film, best actor, best director and best screenplay category. The film edged out others like The Eye Of The Storm, Mrs Carey‘s concert,Oranges And Sunshine and Sleeping Beauty.
     
    The Tree Of Life was adjudged the best film in the Best Overseas Film (English Language) category while in the best Overseas Film (Foreign Language) category Incendines won and Senna won the best documentary award.
     
    Daniel Henshall won the best actor award for Snowtown. He sidelined competitors like Willem Dafoe – The Hunter, Matthew Newton – Face To Face, Geoffrey Rush – The Eye Of The Storm, Hugo Weaving – Oranges And Sunshine and David Wenham – Oranges And Sunshine.

  • Airlock is sequel of The Tunnel

    Airlock is sequel of The Tunnel

    MUMBAI: A sequel to the Australian horror film The Tunnel is on the cards. The film’s working will be on a similar funding model as the original. The Tunnel, created with the 135K Project, was intended to raise $135,000 by selling frames to the movie at a dollar a frame.

    Based on the success of the scheme, the team, Distracted Media will produce a new film. Airlock is a claustrophobic science fiction film in the vein of Alien. The team has also received funding from Screen Australia to produce the sequel of The Tunnel, called The Tunnel: Dead End.

    “The Tunnel: Dead End is a great opportunity to take Distracted Media into a different playing field but as producers we still very much believe in the basic principles of the 135k Project.

    Having a more mainstream film in The Tunnel: Dead End will enable us to up the stakes significantly with “Airlock” which will hopefully raise the bar for our free internet releases and what we can put back into their success,” filmmakers Enzo Tedeschi and Julian Harvey have reportedly said.

    Last year’s The Tunnel was released free online through bitTorrent on a subscription TV and on video on the same day. It was later followed by a limited theatrical release.

  • Octavia Spencer eyes film production

    Octavia Spencer eyes film production

    MUMBAI: Octavia Spencer, winner of the Oscar in the ‘Best Supporting Actress’ category for The Help, has made her intention clear of turning a producer.

    “I don‘t have any role that I want to play. I want to be a producer. I want to be an activist. I was to be pro-active in bringing about work for men, women, boys, girls, everybody who is good at what they do and deserve a shot,” she has been reported to have said.

    After winning the golden statuette, Spencer admitted she was ‘humbled‘ by the accolade and hoped that she could be a beacon of hope to aspiring actresses. “I‘m very humbled because I get to stand here and accept this award and I haven‘t really done anything. I hope that in some way I can be some kind of beacon of hope, especially am I am not the typical Hollywood beauty,” she observed.

    Spencer can next be seen in an yet-untitled film by Diablo Cody.

  • Hopkins, Mirren play Hitchcock and wife in film

    Hopkins, Mirren play Hitchcock and wife in film

    MUMBAI: Anthony Hopkins has been signed to play Hitchcock in Fox Searchlight’s Alfred Hitchcock and the Making of Psycho while Helen Mirren will play the filmmaker‘s wife Alma Reville.

    On the other hand, Scarlett Johannson has also joined the cast of the film that is being directed by Sacha Gervasi (Anvil! The Story of Anvil fame). Johannson will play Janet Leigh, the actress whose chilling shower scene became one of the most iconic in film history.

    The film is based on the non-fiction book by Stephen Rebello that tracks how Hitchcock, at the height of his game as a director, decided to make a "lowly" horror movie. No studio wanted to touch it initially, so Hitchcock scrounged for financing by himself. The movie, of course, became one of his biggest hits and one of the most influential of all time.
     
    The project was earlier in development at Paramount for four years. Montecito Picture Co., which has a first-look deal with Paramount and set it up there in 2007, remains on board as producer. At the center of the script by John McLaughlin (Black Swan) and Rebello is the relationship between Hitchcock and his wife.

    Scarlett Johannson is joining the cast of Alfred Hitchcock and the Making of Psycho, a behind-the-scenes drama being directed by Sacha Gervasi (Anvil! The Story of Anvil), sources confirm to THR. She will play Janet Leigh, the actress whose chilling shower scene became one of the most iconic in film history.

  • Lethem to address San Francisco fest

    Lethem to address San Francisco fest

    MUMBAI: Author Jonathan Lethem will deliver the ninth annual State of Cinema address at this year‘s San Francisco International Film Festival, said The San Francisco Film Society.

    Lethem‘s talk will investigate the "ecstasies of influence" in cinema and discuss how cultural movements like Occupy Wall Street, new media like YouTube and grassroots arts movements have the capacity to affect film culture.
     
    Speakers who have spoken earlier include Christine Vachon, film editor Walter Murch, Wired publisher Kevin Kelly, actress Tilda Swinton, writer/director Brad Bird and cultural commentator B. Ruby Rich.

    "Jonathan Lethem is the perfect person to explore current social and cultural movements and their possible aesthetic, political and commercial influences," said Film Society director of programming Rachel Rosen.

  • Nolan quits talent agency CAA

    Nolan quits talent agency CAA

    MUMBAI: Christopher Nolan, director of films like The Dark Knight and Inception has exited talent agency CAA.

    It is said that the move comes in the wake of the abrupt departure of Nolan‘s longtime agent Dan Aloni from the agency on Wednesday. Aloni‘s assistants also were fired, according to the source.
     
    Aloni is said to have been blindsided by the move, though he had clashed with other CAA agents and is believed to have worked against colleagues in certain circumstances. Till late Wednesday it was not clear as to where would Aloni head to but other top agencies will pursue the agent to join them, it is believed.

    Nolan is also a producer on Warner Bros.‘ in-development film Superman, a reboot Man of Steel.