Category: International

MUMBAI: Ben Affleck is in talks to direct ‘Warner Bros‘ Line of Sight and also star in a thriller to be produced by Joel Silver and Andrew Rona.

The idea centers on an elite commando squad transporting cargo while dealing with a global threat. One of the conceits of the film is that it tells the tale from a point-of-view akin to a first-person shooter game.
 
The shooting of this drama set during the Iran hostage crisis has already begun. The movie is being shot in Los Angeles and will also briefly shot in Istanbul, Turkey.

Affleck has been moving almost non-stop as a filmmaker since his directorial debut, Gone Baby Gone in 2007. Hr followed it up with the 2010 crime thriller The Town that grossed $154 million worldwide.

MUMBAI: Hollywood Studio Legendary Entertainment and a Chinese studio have raised $220.5 million for the joint venture they‘ve set up to aim on China‘s increasingly lucrative film market.

The Hong Kong-based joint venture plans to make one or two “major, event-style films” a year for worldwide audiences starting in 2013. The partnership allows Legendary Entertainment to bypass Chinese import restrictions that effectively limit the country to about 20 foreign blockbusters a year.

Legendary and Huayi Brothers Media Corp. said in a statement that they‘re selling a 50 per cent stake in the venture, Legendary East, to Hong Kong construction company Paul Y. Engineering.

Legendary Entertainment has produced hits including The Dark Knight, Inception and the two Hangover films while recent releases by the Beijing-based Huayi Brothers include the hit disaster epic Aftershock, the kung fu drama Shaolin and the Tsui Hark fantasy epic Detective Dee and the Mystery of the Phantom Flame.

MUMBAI: After Michael Bay, who directed all the three editions of Transformers, gave a hint over the weekend that Paramount Pictures was mulling with the idea to re-release Transformers: Dark of the Moon on Imax screens, it has now come to light that the exhibitor will indeed re-release the film.

The film that is set for an extended two-week run from 26 August to 8 September has been digitally re-mastered with proprietary Imax technology. In that period, Dark of the Moon will play in 246 Imax theaters in North America and in those two weeks, it will be screened simultaneously with other films already booked by Imax.
 
Dark of the Moon has been a runaway success at the worldwide box office, grossing $1.1 billion through Sunday, including $348.5 million at the domestic box office and $747 billion overseas.
 
It is said that James Cameron convinced that the 3D medium was right for the third Transformers installment.

MUMBAI: 33 Postcards, an official Chinese-Australian co-production, will release in China in as many as 8,000 screens next month. A Mandarin version of the film that stars Guy Pearce, Claudia Karvan, Shu Lin and Lincoln Lewis will be released on 2 September.

33 Postcards is the story of 16-year-old Chinese orphan Mei Mei (Zhu Lin) who comes to Australia to meet her sponsor, Dean Randall (Guy Pearce) whose life turns out to be less postcard-perfect than she had imagined. Initially mismatched and disconnected, the two begin a journey in search of belonging and family.
 
Shot in New South Wales and at the Hengdian World Studios in China, 33 Postcards, has been produced by Portal Pictures and Zhejiang Hengdian Film Productions in association with IFS Capital Limited and Screen NSW and directed by Pauline Chan and .

33 Postcards had its world premiered at the Sydney Film Festival last June, followed by its international premiere at the Shanghai International Film Festival the same month where actress Zhu Lin received the Shanghai International Film Festival Asian New Talent Award for her debut performance.

While Titan View will release the film in Australia and New Zealand later this year, Arclight will distribute the film globally.

As an official coproduction 33 Postcards gets an automatic release in China, although such wide releases are not always guaranteed.

CGI live action kids feature The Dragon Pearl, another Australian-Chinese co-pro, premi?red in China earlier this year.
 
News of 33 Postcards‘ Chinese release comes as producers guild, the Screen Producers Association of Australia (SPAA), officially launches the Australia-China Screen Alliance, this week. It will assist both Australian and Chinese film and television producers navigate co-productions between the countries.

Mumbai : Sony Animation‘s The Smurfs captured the No. 1 spot in the overseas market with a gross of $35.3 million, down 34 per cent from last week, running on 10,590 screens in 54 markets.

The family-oriented 3D outing about those lovable blue creatures finished in the top spot in at least nine territories including Poland ($1.45 million), Colombia, Israel, Chile, Portugal, Austria and in Brazil ($3.9 million) respectively.
 
The film, that topped the foreign circuit for the second consecutive weekend, has collected a total offshore gross of $211.4 million since it opened overseas on 27July. It collected $329 million worldwide.
 
The weekend‘s No. 2 spot was again held by 20th Century Fox‘s Rise of the Planet of the Apes, that amassed $29.6 million from 6,271 venues in 48 markets. The seventh installment of the 47-year-old feature film series has so far collected $123.7 million overseas.

Climbing down to the third position was Warner Bros.‘ Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2 that generated $14.3 million on the weekend from 60 territories.

With debuts in six markets including a No. 2 opening in France ($3.5 million from 480 locations), lifted the overall weekend tally for Marvel Studios‘ Captain American: The First Avenger to $12 million from 4,718 venues in 51 territories and increased the 3D superhero comic book adaptation‘s overseas total to $147 million. The film was ranked fourth.
 
At the fifth position was Warner‘s Green Lantern that generated $11.4 million from about 4,200 venues in 35 territories in the last weekend. A Brazil opener provided $3.3 million from 352 locations. Globally, the film collected $78.6 million.

MUMBAI: According to Sarah Jessica Parker, the third edition of Sex and the City will soon be made. The 46-year-old actress said that they have found a story for the third movie. According to sources, the film will be based on The Carrie Diaries and Summer and the City.
 
“There is. I know what the story is. It‘s a small story, but I think it should be told. The question is, what‘s the right time to tell it?” Parker questioned.
 
It may be recalled that the second edition was critically panned for its insensitive portrayal of the Muslim world with the film‘s makers then indicating that they might not take the story forward. But Parker‘s comments seem to lend credence to the theory that a third film would not be a prequel with younger starcast.
 
Last month, rumours were afloat that the project would feature young stars such as Elizabeth Olsen, Emma Roberts, Blake Lively, Selena Gomez as Carrie, Miranda, Samantha and Charlotte respectively.

MUMBAI: MGM has signed Noah Oppenheim to script its remake of the 1980s Cold War classic War Games.

Seth Gordon who had earlier directed Horrible Bosses will direct the film said to be one of several remakes at MGM studio.
 
The original 1983 thriller, a tale of a kid who thinks he‘s playing a computer game but nearly starts World War III, starred Matthew Broderick and Ally Sheedy.

Oppenheim is a former Today show producer whose Jackie O script was applauded in Hollywood.

MUMBAI:The International Documentary Associations (IDA)DocuWeeks program, a three-week showcase designed specifically to meet the Academy‘s eligibility requirements kicked off on 19 August.

The celebration will take place on 28 September with festivities that include a screening of his 2007 film Into the Wild as well as a compilation of highlights from his acting resume.
 
In the 14 years of its inception, DocuWeeks has qualified 17 Oscar nominees and seven winners.

Filmmakers who participate in DocuWeeks pay the IDA a fee commensurate with the cost of renting a theatre for a qualifying run on their own though it brings with it the added cachet and publicity of part of DocuWeeks curated program.
 
One of this year‘s films, Dying to Do Letterman has raised more than $40,000 on Kickstarter to cover the cost of participation and of additional promotion and publicity.]
 
Another first-week film, Nick Brandestini‘s Darwin has received rave reviews for its portrayal of a small community in California‘s Death Valley.
 
Unfinished Spaces, that screened at the Los Angeles Film Festival earlier this summer, is a striking, eye-opening and beautifully-made documentary about the National Art Schools in Cuba.
 
Other first-week films include The Boy Mir – Ten Years in Afghanistan,S.O.S./State of Security and a program of four short  Documentaries , including Library of Dust.
 
DocuWeeks will continue in New York till 1 September and in Los Amgeles 8 September.

MUMBAI: Next month‘s Zurich Film Festival will honour Sean Penn with the Golden Icon award. Given in recognition of Penn‘s acting achievements, the festival representatives have also identified Penn‘s directing work, as well as his journalistic and humanitarian efforts.

The celebration will take place on 28 September with festivities that include a screening of his 2007 film Into the Wild as well as a compilation of highlights from his acting resume.

The actor will be the fourth recipient of the Golden Icon award, the earlier recipients being Michael Douglas, Morgan Freeman and Sylvester Stallone.

The Festival runs from 22 September to 2 October.