ITV

Category: International

  • Don Mischer receives PGA honour

    MUMBAI: Producer, director Don Mischer will be presented with the 2012 Norman Lear Achievement Award in Television. The award has been instituted by the Producers Guild of America (PGA).


    Said Guild Awards co-chairs Paula Wagner and Michael Manheim in a statement, “Don Mischer is an extraordinarily talented producer whose work is amongst the best and most watched entertainment in the world. His ability to consistently deliver live event productions of the highest caliber is unmatched in this industry. We look forward to honoring Don for his remarkable achievements.”


    Previous recipients of this award include Tom Hanks, Dick Wolf, Jerry Bruckheimer, Lorne Michaels, Aaron Spelling, Steven Bochco, David E. Kelley, Mark Burnett and Norman Lear.


    The award will be presented at the 23rd Annual Producers Guild Awards ceremony on January 21st, 2012 in Los Angeles.


    It may be interesting to note that Norman Lear was the first live television producer to receive the honor.

  • Cameron displays 18-minute 3D footage of Titanic

    Cameron displays 18-minute 3D footage of Titanic

    MUMBAI: James Cameron recently unveiled an 18-minute footage from his new 3D version of the 1997 blockbuster hit Titanic. The 1997 disaster epic is in the process of being converted into 3D at a cost of USD 18 million.

    Among the footage that was screened include the Jack Dawson (Leonardo DiCaprio) and Rose DeWitt Bukater‘s (Kate Winslet) encounter on the Titantic‘s grand stairwell, their kiss on the bow of the ship and its sinking.”There are certain films that aren‘t being brought back to the theater. There is a whole generation of people who haven‘t seen it at all,” Cameron has been quoted to have said. The director said that there would be no changes to the content of the film.

    Titantic grossed $ 1.84 billion worldwide and won 11 Oscars, including those for best picture and best director. It is the second highest grossing film of all time next to Cameron‘s own Avatar that grossed nearly double that amount.

    Cameron also said that while he is typically very much against converting traditional films into 3D, he believes the conversion enriches the film.I totally believe 3D is an enhancement for the dramatic scenes not just the big action,” he added.

    The new version of the film is due to be released on April 6 next year.

  • Accident grips The Expendables 2 shoot

    Accident grips The Expendables 2 shoot

    MUMBAI: A stuntman died while another injured while shooting for star-studded Hollywood action film The Expendables 2 in Bulgaria, it is understood.

    The incident occurred while the two men were shooting a scene involving an explosion in a rubber boat near a dam on Lake Ognyanovo in southwestern Bulgaria last Thursday.

    The production unit of the film, written by Sylvester Stallone, was shooting in the mountain resort village of Bansko where the accident happened. “It is with great regret that we confirm this unfortunate accident,” said a statement by producers Image/Millennium Films. “Our hearts go out to the families and those on the production affected by this tragedy,”the statement added.

    The Expendables 2, starring Stallone and Arnold Schwarzenegger, Bruce Willis and Jean-Claude Van Damme, is a follow-up of the 2010 action blockbuster. The film has been scheduled for release in August next year.

  • Sentence of Iranian actress Vafamehr reduced

    MUMBAI: Sentenced to a year in jail and 90 lashes for starring in the Australian production My Tehran for Sale, Iranian actress Marzieh Vafamehr has been released from prison without suffering the lashes and further imprisonment.


    Her imprisonment was reduced to three months while the flogging sentence overruled by an Appeal Court, according to Amnesty International, Cyan Films, the South Australian Film Corporation and the Adelaide Film Festival.


    Shot entirely in Tehran, My Tehran for Sale stars Vafamehr as a stage actress who plots to flee Iran with the help of a man she meets at an underground rave. Banned in Iran, the movie was distributed illegally in the country and premiered at the 2009 Toronto International Film Festival. Vafamehr was initially arrested in July and was released later that month after posting unspecified bail.


    Just a last week, it was reported that a Tehran appeals court upheld the six-year jail sentence and 20-year filmmaking ban against director Ja‘far Panahi while his fellow Iranian director Mohammad Rasoulof was also sentenced to six years imprisonment in a separate case and also remains under house arrest.

  • 28-day delay of DVD rentals being planned

    MUMBAI: Several Hollywood studios are in plans to double a 28-day delay on DVD rentals offered by Netflix and Coinstar‘s Redbox DVD rental kiosk operator, it is understood. Hollywood executives are discussing a postponment of 60 days from the time DVDs go on sale and studios continue to explore ways to bolster DVD sales and digital purchases.


    The news comes after Kevin Tsujihara, president of Warner Bros. Home Entertainment, has been reported as saying that the studio is looking at lengthening the current 28 days delay.


    Though it has not been detailed as to which studios may seek a longer delay, but highlighted that beyond Warner, Universal Pictures, part of Comcast-controlled NBCUniversal and News Corp.‘s Fox currently impose the 28-day rental window on Netflix and Redbox.


    Coinstar CEO Paul Davis has reportedly said that the company has the option of buying DVDs elsewhere, but that it will continue to work with studios. “Some studios want a window and we try to work with them,” he said. “There‘s a point to where it might not make sense.”


    It may be recalled that Redbox had announced last Thursday that it will raise DVD rental prices by 20 per cent per day.

  • Matt Damon receives $ 8 million grant to improve access to safe water in India

    Matt Damon receives $ 8 million grant to improve access to safe water in India

    MUMBAI: Matt Damon‘s non-profit organization Water.org has received $8 million grant from PepsiCo Foundation to improve access to safe water and sanitation in India. This partnership will help enable approximately 800,000 people to access safe water by March 2016.

    "There will never be enough charity in the world to solve the water problem. What we need to do is double down on smart solutions which can rapidly scale safe water and sanitation access for families that are in desperate need right now," Damon said in a statement.

    "In the US, we have the luxury to debate and plan for water shortages and investments in our infrastructure. For billions, this is a daily nightmare and fight for survival. It‘s visionary partners like the PepsiCo Foundation that recognizes that and I hope their example inspires others to follow suit," the 41-year star added.

    In 2008, PepsiCo Foundation contributed $4.1 mn to Water.org resulting more than 250,000 people to access improved water and sanitation through initiatives funded by micro finance loans.

  • Glenn Close to receive PSIFF honour

    MUMBAI: The Palm Springs International Film Festival (PSIFF) will bestow its career achievement award to actress Glenn Close at its Awards function on 7 January, next year. Close‘s latest film Albert Nobbs, in which she stars as a woman portraying a man in 19th-century Ireland, is set to release this fall.


    PSIFF chairman Harold Matzner in a statement “Glenn Close has the gift of mesmerizing an audience whenever she performs. Since her film debut in 1982, Close‘s ability to capture the essence of a character is unparalleled, be it a femme fatale, a notorious stalker or the trusted aide to a president.”


    Close made her feature film debut in George Roy Hill‘s The World According to Garp. Her performance earned her awards from the Los Angeles Film Critics Association and the National Board of Review as well as her first Academy Award nomination. She was subsequently Oscar-nominated for her performances in Lawrence Kasdan’s The Big Chill, Barry Levinson’s The Natural, Adrian Lyne’s smash Fatal Attraction and Stephen Frears‘ Dangerous Liaisons for which she was awarded a BAFTA award.


    Past career achievement award recipients include actors Cate Blanchett, Robert Duvall, Clint Eastwood, Morgan Freeman, Samuel L. Jackson and Helen Mirren.

  • Fourth part of Jurrasic Park in offing

    MUMBAI: Steven Spielberg has confirmed that he was working on the fourth part of Jurassic Park. He said that the sequel will be an improvement from the last instalment that was released in 2001.


    “The screenplay is being written right now by Mark Protosevich. I‘m hoping that will come out in the next couple of years. We have a good story. We have a better story for IV than we had for III,” the 64-year-old filmmaker has been quoted to have said.


    Based on the best-selling Michael Crichton novel, Jurassic Park went on to be a cult in itself grossing $350 million in the US when released in 1993.


    Starring Sam Neill and Jeff Goldblum, the film spawned two sequels.

  • Isabelle Huppert wins BBC Four World Cinema award

    Isabelle Huppert wins BBC Four World Cinema award

    MUMBAI: UK pubcaster the BBC‘s channel BBC Four has announced that actor Isabelle Huppert is to be the recipient of the World Cinema Achievement Award at the eighth BBC Four World Cinema Awards, celebrating the best of international film-making and highlighting the channel‘s commitment to international cinema.

    Huppert is famous for fearlessly embracing challenging roles – most notably in ‘The Piano Teacher‘. Huppert has worked with numerous great directors such as Chabrol, Godard, Haneke and Tavernier.

    BBC Arts commissioning editor Mark Bell said, “It is a privilege to welcome the extraordinary Isabelle Huppert to this year‘s awards. She has delivered outstanding performances through her long career, and we are honoured that she has accepted this year‘s Achievement Award.”

    Huppert will receive her award at a special BBC Four television ceremony, presented by Jonathan Ross on 15 November at the BFI Southbank in London, to be aired on 20 November.

    BBC Four will also showcase Isabelle Huppert‘s talents by broadcasting her film ‘White Material‘ immediately after the World Cinema Awards in November.

  • Paranormal 3 has record debut

    Paranormal 3 has record debut

    MUMBAI: Paramount’s Paranormal Activity 3, a $5 million low-budget horror movie, has mopped up $80 million from the box office over the weekend.

    The film earned $54 million from US and Canadian theatres, the highest debut for a horror movie and the biggest October debut ever in those markets, according to the studio. Jackass 3-D had an opening of $50.4 million last year.

    The R-rated horror prequel made $26 million from international markets.

    The movie is about two young sisters and their creepy encounters with an invisible presence in their home, all recorded by surveillance cameras.

    Horror movies generally attract teenagers and young adults. Paranormal Activity 3 also brought in viewers over 25 years of age.

    The Three Musketeers and Johhny English Reborn, the weekend’s two other releases, had sluggish ticket sales. A 3D action version of the classic novel, The Three Musketeers grossed $73.2 million, with $8.8 million coming from US and Canadian theatres, as it failed to draw in younger moviegoers.

    Jhnny English Reborn, which had a better run overseas, grossed just $3.8 million in the North American market. The British spy comedy had travelled in other markets before releasing in America, collecting $104.5 million over five weeks.