ITV

Category: International

  • New Scarface on cards

    MUMBAI: Universal Pictures is in the process of developing a new version of Scarface that w set in today‘s world of crime, is in development.


    In this connection, the Studio has been taking to writers to prepare a script for the project. However, the 1983 version starring Al Pacino as gangster Tony Montana, a Cuban man who takes over the drugs trade in Miami, was more popular than the 1932 made original.
     
    The new film would be produced by former studio head Marc Shmuger and Martin Bregman. The project is in the early stages but is being described not a sequel or outright remake of the 1983 film; it will maintain some of the elements made popular in the first two.


    Both versions told the story of crime sagas of the rise and fall of a gangster. The 1932 version was set in Chicago and featured bootlegging, Italians and Irish mobsters. While the 1983 version was set in Latin-loving Miami andcocaine was the vice of choice.

  • Biopic on Sir Elton John in offing

    MUMBAI: Steve Hamilton Shaw in association with David Furnish is all set to make a biopic on Sir Elton John titled Rocketman. The film will have John as its executive producer.


    The film promises to be a rather unconventional biopic that Shaw describes as “non-linear” and “hyper visual.”
     
    So far, no actor has been confirmed for the lead role, however, it is learnt that Scottish actor James McAvoy, known for his films like Atonement, X-Men: First Class is likely to be the favourite choice.


    It may be remembered that John, Shaw and Furnish have previously collaborated on the 3D film Gnomeo and Juliet.

  • Hitchcock film screened after 80 years

    Hitchcock film screened after 80 years

    MUMBAI: The White Shadow, an Alfred Hitchcock film, that was found in a garden shed in New Zealand was has been released after nearly 80 years of its making. The film was being shown at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences‘ Samuel Goldwyn Theatre.

    David Sterritt, chairman of the National Society of Film Critics, described the discovery as “one of the most significant developments in memory”.

    “These first three reels offer a priceless opportunity to study his visual and narrative ideas when they were first taking shape,” he was quoted as saying.

    The director was just 24 when he wrote, edited, designed and assistant-directed the silent film, it is understood.

    The only known print of Hitchcock‘s silent film lay in a garden shed in the North Island town of Hastings for decades. The film was part of a collection by Jack Murtagh, a cinema projectionist.
     

  • Lionsgate to release Needle in North America

    MUMBAI: Lionsgate has undertaken to distribute Filmscope Entertainment‘s Needle across North America on 29 November by way of home video, video-on-demand and digital download.


    The release follows the success of the Western Australian horror film in Turkey, where it has garnered $US250,000.


    Needle, about a college student who must unmask a killer who is harnessing the deadly powers of a sinister 18th century machine to target his friends.
     
    While Visey has acquired the DVD rights of the film for Argentina, Chile, Paraguay and Uruguay, Entertainment One has bought the rights for the Benelux region.


    Said Deidre Kitcher, producer of the film, “Lionsgate are the masters of horror film distribution in North America and for a small West Australian film to secure such a release through them is very exciting and a credit to the team and vision of the Director, John V. Soto.”


    The film has picked up numerous awards in underground and horror festivals across the world.

  • Academy invokes tough campaign regulations

    MUMBAI: With campaigning for the 84th Academy Awards starting to heat up, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has issued tough new campaign regulations that restricts what events filmmakers may participate in.


    The Academy also issued a stern warning that it is extending its existing ban on negative campaigning to cover social media platforms. Explaining the reason for the new regulations, Academy COO Ric Robertson has been quoted a s saying, “It‘s really a perception problem for us.The Oscars are about what our members see on screen and think is quality work. To the extent that the public dialog about the Oscars is who threw a good party or ran a successful campaign versus the quality of the work, that‘s off-point for us. We want people to be taking about the work.”
     
    There are no restrictions on screening events — Q&As and receptions — before nominations are announced on 24 January. Understandably, many of the promotional events that studios will be having in December will not be affected.


    Hence, after the nominations are revealed and until final ballots are due on Feb. 21, the restrictions kick in. Receptions will not be permitted after screenings, although there are no restrictions on the total number of screenings per film.


    Individual filmmakers may take part in no more than two panel discussions on behalf of a given film to which Academy members are invited. (That filmmaker, though, still would be free to participate in a WGA or DGA event.)


    Additionally, between the nomination announcements and the final vote, Academy members may not be invited to or attend any non-screening event that promotes or honors a nominated movie or individual.


    Nominees themselves are also barred from attending such events. However, the Academy‘s own events as well as awards ceremonies held by the guilds, critics‘ groups and other organizations are exempted.

  • Weinstein Co. to release Sean Penn film in NA

    MUMBAI: The Weinstein Co. has picked up the North American (NA) rights of Paolo Sorrentino‘s This Must Be the Place.


    Written by Sorrentino and Umberto Contarello, the film starring Sean Penn, which was greeted with mixed reviews has Penn as a former rock star who joins forces with a Nazi hunter to find the man who tormented his father.
     
    The film has been produced by Nicola Giuliano and Francesca Cima for Indigo Film, Andrea Occhipinti for Lucky Red, and Medusa Film in association with ARP in France and Element Pictures in Ireland in association with Path? International, Italian banking group Banca Intesa and the support of Eurimages and the Irish Film Board.

  • Paramount Studios set for $700 mn makeover

    Paramount Studios set for $700 mn makeover

    MUMBAI: Paramount Pictures is in plans to have a $700 million upgrade of its Hollywood headquarters admeasuring 62 acres.

    The studio, launched in 1926, is filing applications with the city of Los Angeles for what it has named the Hollywood Project, a 25-year plan to improve its existing studio lot and adjacent properties.
     
    Most of the development will take place at the studio‘s main 56-acre plot that was created when Paramount bought the former RKO Studios from Desilu Productions in 1967.
     
    Portions of the plot along Melrose and limited areas within the main production area are being targeted for development.
    Paramount said it will reach out to the local community to offer information and answer questions about the project over the next several months. It said that the capital improvements will create nearly 7,300 jobs during construction and 12,600 jobs during operations with the project estimated to generate $3.1 billion in economic output annually.

    Said Paramount chairman and CEO Brad Grey, "As the last major studio physically located in Hollywood, this project is fundamentally about maintaining a robust and healthy entertainment industry in Los Angeles, laying the long-term foundation to preserve and grow jobs and employment in the heart of the entertainment industry, as well as ensuring that the legacy and heritage of this iconic studio are protected for future generations."

  • MGM names Stratton as CFO

    MGM names Stratton as CFO

    MUMBAI: MGM has named Dene B. Stratton as its chief financial officer according to the studio‘s co-chairmen and CEOs Gary Barber and Roger Birnbaum. Stratton, who spent nearly two decades at the Walt Disney Co., was the CFO of the Internet start-up TRC Media Limited.

    In his tenure at Disney, he rose to the position of CFO, Jetix Europe. He also held such positions as senior vp, planning and control for ABC; senior vp and general manager for DIC Entertainment; senior vp, business development for Walt Disney Television International in Asia Pacific; and vp, finance, European controller, Walt Disney Studios Europe.

    Before joining Disney in 1990, Stratton was as business unit controller for Calcomp.

    “Dene has the solid foundation and the precise experience we were hoping to find in our new CFO. We are enthused by what we know he will bring to the table and look forward to a prosperous future together,” Barber and Birnbaum said.

  • James Franco to direct Child of God

    MUMBAI: James Franco is all set to direct Child of God, a film that is based on Cormac McCarthy‘s novel.
     
    The film follows a recently-released convict who lives outside of normal society in a cave in the hills of East Tennessee and engages in necrophilia and other acts of ‘crime and degradation‘.
     
    “We shot a 20-minute test of it that turned out pretty well, we were gearing up to do the feature but that for various reasons it‘s on hold, but we are going to make a movie based on his Cormac McCarthy‘s third book Child Of God,” said Franco in a quote.
     
    Franco is currently working on two documentaries- one about his time on US soap General Hospital and the other about a porn website.

  • The Lion King rules North American box office

    The Lion King rules North American box office

    MUMBAI: The 3D re-release of the 1994 made The Lion King has edged out the Steven Soderbergh-directed Warner Bros. film Contagion to be on the top spot of the North American box office on its debut weekend.

    The film has done much better than the studio executives had expected, earning $29.3 million from around 2,330 cinema halls in the US and Canada during the weekend.

    Pixar‘s Toy Story and its 2009 3D sequel held the record earlier when it garnered $12.5 million in its opening weekend. And it so happened that being the biggest blockbuster from the stables of Disney, the film also had two made-for-video sequels, a television series and a Broadway musical.

    The Lion King was reproduced in its 3D version mainly due to the existence of a huge audience in their twenties and families who account for 74 per cent of the viewing public.

    The original Lion King released in 1994 maintains the record of the fifth highest grossing animated film and continues to be the highest-grossing hand drawn animation film ever made.