ITV

Category: International

  • 4 films to vie for Oscar best picture honour

    4 films to vie for Oscar best picture honour

    MUMBAI: As the Oscar awards presentation ceremony, that is to be held on February 26 is approaching fast, four films have emerged as the front runners to lap up the coveted best picture trophy.


    Among them are the black-and-white silent film The Artist, the Deep South drama The Help, George Clooney‘s family tale The Descendants and Steven Spielberg‘s World War I epic War Horse.
     
    Till last Tuesday, organizers mailed ballots to 5,783 voting members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Ballots are to be sent back by January 13 while the nominations will be announced on January 24.


    The Oscar ceremony will have Billy Crystal returning as host for the first time in eight years.

  • Tom Cruise film grosses $256.2 mn in 2 weeks

    Tom Cruise film grosses $256.2 mn in 2 weeks

    MUMBAI: After two weeks of its release, Paramount‘s Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol has totally grossed $256.2 million that includes $86.2 million domestically and another $170 million internationally at the worldwide box office.

    If trade insiders‘ predictions are right, the film might earn $ 600 million worldwide. Directed by Brad Bird,the film‘s performance is a great victory for Tom Cruise whose star status had been diminished in the US.

    On Tuesday, the film grossed $9.6 million followed by Warner Bros.‘ Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows that grossed $7.3 million at the domestic box office. Overseas, the film has earned $49 million for a global haul of $146.1 million.

    Though Game of Shadows and Fox‘s Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked got off to slow starts, both made up ground with Chipwrecked staying at No. 3 domestically after having grossed $6.8 million. Internationally, the film earned above $35 million.

    Holding at No. 4 was Sony‘s The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo grossing $4.6 million on Tuesday for a total $32.5 million.

    Fox‘s Matt Damon-Scarlett Johansson Christmas film We Bought a Zoo continues to lag at No. 6 behind Steven Spielberg‘s 3D family pic The Adventures of Tintin, ranked No. 5. Tintin, that opened on December 21 grossed $4.57 million on Tuesday for a domestic cume of $24.4 million.

  • Barbera is director Venice Intl Film Fest

    MUMBAI: The Board of Administration of the Venice International Film Festival has announced that Alberto Barbera will replace Marco Mueller as its new Director. He has been appointed the new director for a term of four years.
     
    Till now, Barbera has been the director of the national museum of Cinema in Turin since 2004.
     
    Earlier, he was the director of the Venice International Film Festival from December 1998 to April 2002.
     
    The 69th Venice International Film Festival will be held from August 29-September 8, 2012.
     
    Mueller successfully headed the festival for eight years.

  • Jolie working on film on Afghanistan

    MUMBAI: Angelina Jolie has revealed that she has been working on a script for a movie about Afghanistan but she is not very confident about it as of now.
     
    “I don‘t even think it‘s good. Maybe I‘ll dig it out, but I don‘t have the confidence yet to start even thinking in that way,” femalefirst.co.uk quoted her as saying.
     
    The 36-year-old, stepped behind the camera to make her directorial debut ‘In The Land Of Blood And Honey‘, a film she wrote herself about a romance between a Serbian soldier and a Bosnian woman. It has been nominated for a Golden Globe Awards this year and also won a Producer‘s Guild award.

  • Alan Taylor set to direct Thor 2

    Alan Taylor set to direct Thor 2

    MUMBAI: Marvel Studios has zeroed in on Alan Taylor to direct the second season of Thor titled Thor 2.

    The studios picked Taylor from the short list to replace director Kenneth Branagh (director of the original) after he decided not to continue and Patty Jenkins who quit earlier this month, it is understood.

    Taylor made most of his accomplishments on television, directing among others the episode of The Sopranos, Mad Men and Game of Thrones. He made a name as a feature film director in 1995‘s Palookaville.

    Chris Hemsworth and Natalie Portman will again essay their roles as the titular character and his love interest respectively.

    The recruitment of Taylor has put the movie back on track to meet its November 15, 2013 release date.

  • Nominations for EDA Awards announced

    MUMBAI: The organizers of the Alliance of Women Film Journalists‘ 2011 AWFJ EDA Awards has been declared.
     
    While The Artist leads the best film category, Woody Allen tops the table in the best director category. George Clooney and Viola Davis top the best actor and best actress category table for their role in The Descendants and The Help.
     
    The ‘Best Film’ category also consists of films like The Descendants, Hugo, Melancholia and Midnight in Paris, the ‘Best Director’ category also comprises of Michel Hazanavicius (The Artist), Terrence Malick(Tree of Life), Alexander Payne ( The Descendants) and Martin Scorsese (Hugo).
     
    Names of films in the ‘Best Animated Film’ category include Arthur Christmas, Kung Fu Panda, Puss in Boots, Rango and Tintin. Names in the ‘Best Actress’ category also include Kirsten Dunst (Justine in Melancholia), Meryl Streep (Margaret Thatcher in The Iron Lady, Tilda Swinton (Eva Khatchadourian in We Need To Talk About Kevin) and Michelle Williams (Marilyn Monroe in My Week With Marilyn).
     
    Also named in the ‘Best Actor’ category are: Jean Dujardin (George Valentin in The Artist), Michael Fassbinder ( Brandon Sullivan in Shame), Brad Pitt (Billy Beane in Moneyball) and Michael Shannon (Curtis in Take Shelter).

  • Palm Springs award to Stepher Daldry

    Palm Springs award to Stepher Daldry

    MUMBAI: Stephen Daldry, three time Academy Award nominee, will be awarded with the Director of the Year Award for Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close at the upcoming 23rd annual Palm Springs International Film Festival.

    Daldry will join this year‘s previously announced honorees George Clooney, Glenn Close, Michel Hazanavicius, Gary Oldman, Brad Pitt, Octavia Spencer, Michelle Williams and the team behind “Young Adult, all of whom will receive their awards on January 7.

  • Ghost Protocol grosses $26.5 million in X’mas weekend

    Ghost Protocol grosses $26.5 million in X’mas weekend

    MUMBAI: By grossing $26.5 million over the three-day Christmas weekend for a cume of $59 million, Paramount Studios’ Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol stood out in the crowded holiday race.

    According to Paramount, Ghost Protocol will earn another $13.7 million on Monday (a national holiday) for a domestic total of $72.7 million, not far behind the $76.4 million earned by Knight and Day in its entire earned $76.4 domestic run, or the $83.1 million grossed by Valkyrie in 2008.

    Ghost Protocol has already jumped the $100 million at the international box office, although figures for Christmas weekend won‘t be announced until Monday (many theaters in Europe and Latin America closed for Christmas eve and Christmas day).

    The production house now predicts that the film will cross the $200 million mark internationally by the year-end.
    Holding at No. 2 over the weekend was Warner Bros.‘ Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows, grossing $17.8 million for a 10-day domestic cume of $76.6 million. The film grossed $22.3 million from 25 markets at the foreign box office over the weekend, bringing its international total to $46.1 million and worldwide cume to $122.7 million.

    Fox‘s Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked continued to pick up steam as well, grossing $13.3 million over the weekend for a 10-day domestic total of $50.3 million. The film had opened well below expectations last weekend.

    Sony‘s The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo came in No. 4, grossing $13 million over Christmas weekend for a five-day domestic cume of $21.4 million. Directed by David Fincher, the English-language adaptation of the blockbuster Swedish novel stars Daniel Craig, Rooney Mara and Christopher Plummer.

    Dragon Tattoo opened in five Scandavian countries over the weekend, collecting $1.6 million.

    Steven Spielberg‘s 3D family film The Adventures of Tintin grossed $9 million over Christmas weekend for a five-day domestic cume of $17.1 million.

    The other big headline of Christmas weekend was the tepid debut of On the other hand, Cameron Crowe‘s We Bought a Zoo opened to a tepid debut. Starring Matt Damon and Scarlett Johansson, the film‘s cume through Sunday a mere $7.8 million that put it at No. 6.

    With 2012 fast approaching, Hollywood is now resigned to the fact that it probably won‘t be able to close the gap in domestic box office revenues, even as international grosses surge.

  • Fast Five most-pirated film of 2011

    Fast Five most-pirated film of 2011

    MUMBAI: Films continued to be downloaded at a fast pace as Fast Five topped the list of 2011‘s most-pirated films on BitTorrent, according to a data.

    With Fat Five being illegally downloaded 9.3 million times this year, there shows a significant drop from last year‘s most-downloaded film Avatar that was downloaded more than 16 million times.

    In fact, the average number of downloads for the entire top 10 list is lower than 2010, which the data attributes to the “increase in legal alternatives” as well as “alternative piracy sources” including cyber lockers and streaming sites.

    Coming in at No. 2 was The Hangover Part II with 8.8 million downloads, followed by Thor (8.3 million), Source Code (7.9 million) and I Am Number Four (7.7 million).

    What followed were films like I Am Number Four (7.7 million), Sucker Punch (7.2 million), 7. 127 Hours (6.9 million), Rango (6.5 million), The King‘s Speech (6.3 million) and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 (6 million).

  • Mission Impossible rules in 2nd week too

    Mission Impossible rules in 2nd week too

    MUMBAI: Having grossed an estimated $6.4 million for a cume of $32.4 million and worldwide total of $128.4 million, Paramount Studio‘s Tom Cruise starrer Mission: Impossible–Ghost Protocol continued to be at the top the domestic box office on Thursday.

    The Brad Bird-directed film has earned $96 million internationally since its release last week. The film is expected to post a first-place gross of $40 to $45 million for the Wednesday-Sunday stretch.

    After three weekends of woe at the box office, traffic has picked up this week as Christmas approaches. But the real test will be the week between Christmas and New Year when movie going escalates.

    With Christmas day falling on a Sunday this year, Saturday will be a wash at the multiplex because of Christmas Eve. Christmas itself can be a strong day after presents are opened.

    Commanding the No. 2 position on Thursday was Warner Bros.‘ Sherlock Holmes–A Game of Shadows that grossed $4.8 million for a seven-day domestic cume of $58.8 million.

    After children flocked to see Fox‘s Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked, the film moved up the chart to No. 3 grossing $4 million for a seven-day domestic cume of $36.9 million.

    On the other hand, Steven Spielberg‘s 3D family film The Adventures of Tintin came in No. 5 on Thursday at the domestic box office preceded by Sony‘s The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo at No. 4 in its second day of full play, grossing $3.3 million for a cume of $8.4 million.