Category: International

MUMBAI: Arnold Schwarzenegger is considering a return to the silver screen with him essaying the role of a soldier in With Wings of Eagles.

Schwarzenegger, who took a break from acting to concentrate on his political career, is now busy reading scripts for new films after his tenure as the Governor of California came to an end on 3 January.

The star is currently reading three scripts. “One topic-script, which I considered a long time ago before becoming governor, is delighting me particularly. In it I would play an older soldier, who gets the order at the ending of the war to kill a bunch of kids,” Schwarzenegger said.

The 63-year-old actor insisted that with age he is no more comfortable doing action roles that made him famous at the start of his career.

The actor wants to adapt his roles to his age. Clint Eastwood also has done it in the same way.
 

MUMBAI: Oscar winning actress Rachel Weisz has reportedly been confirmed to star opposite Daniel Craig, in the next ‘Bond‘ film. In all probability, the actress, who is known for her film Mummy, will play the role of a villain in the 23rd Bond film.

The latest film in the Bond franchise reported to be titled Red Sky At Night will see the 42-year-old Craig reprise his role as the suave British spy. The producers are also planning a death defying winter sports chase.

While Sam Mendes will direct the film, Judi Dench will returning as ‘M‘ with Michael Sheen set to play the villain. Neal Purvis and Robert Wade along with John Logan who have hits like Gladiator, The Aviator and The Last Samurai will write the script.

The film will go on the floor later this year and its release will coincide with the 50th anniversary of the first Bond film Dr No in 2012.
 

MUMBAI: British actor Colin Firth has won his first major award for his role as the stammering George VI in Golden Globe nominated film The King‘s Speech.

Dame Helen Mirren, who is no stranger to playing royalty, curtsied as she presented him with the gong.

Firth bowed to her in return before he joked: “Maybe I am the Queen”.

Firth‘s performance as the monarch who struggles to overcome his stammer, is tipped to reap huge gains at the Oscars too.
 

MUMBAI: Exclusive Media Group has named Alex Brunner as the new co-president of the company‘s Exclusive Films International label that oversees worldwide sales and marketing efforts for feature films produced by Exclusive‘s labels – Hammer Films, Spitfire Pictures and Exclusive Films as well as library product and third-party productions. He had been serving as Exclusive‘s senior vp production and operations.

The company, headed by co-chairmen Guy East and Nigel Sinclair, has announced a new film fund that will be used to finance two to four acquisitions of up to $20 million per film each year. The new fund, which will fall under EFI, will allocate separate resources that will allow EFI to pick up movies, with EFI taking international distribution rights.

“We have substantial resources from our shareholders to fund productions, as we are doing with Peter Weir‘s The Way Back or George Clooney‘s The Ides of March, or the Daniel Radcliffe starrer The Woman in Black,” Sinclair and East said.

“However, this film pickup fund allows us to also take a piece of finished films from third parties – films in production and films where our distribution guarantee will form part of the finance plan of the movie,” the added.

Sinclair, Walton and Brunner will look for projects at Sundance and at next month‘s Berlin International Film Festival. Additionally, the group will be looking at potential acquisitions for Newmarket Films, Exclusive‘s U.S. distribution label.
 

MUMBAI: The 34th edition of the Northwest Film Center‘s Portland International Film Festival will start on 10 February with the screening of director Francois Ozon‘s Potiche a French melodrama starring the formidable duo of Catherine Deneuve and Gerard Depardieu.

The event, that will run through 27 February will include films from Abbas Kiarostami, Bertrand Tavernier, Apichatpong Weerasethaku, Carlos Saura, John Turturro, Takeshi Kitano and Susanne Bier.

A notable contingent of Oregon-made features is in the programme of the fest that will debut this month at the Sundance Film Festival like Peter H. Richardson‘s How to Die in Oregon as well as Aaron Katz‘s Cold Weather and Matt McCormick‘s Some Days Are Better than Others.

MUMBAI: Warner Bros. Pictures has cast Anne Hathway as Selina Kyle in Christopher Nolan‘s The Dark Knight Rises. She will be starring alongside Christian Bale who returns in the title role of Bruce Wayne/Batman. In addition, Tom Hardy has been set to play Bane.

Stated the director, “I am thrilled to have the opportunity to work with Anne Hathaway, who will be a fantastic addition to our ensemble as we complete our story. I am also delighted to be working with Tom again and excited to watch him bring to life our new interpretation of one of Batman‘s most formidable enemies.”

Nolan, who is producing the film with his longtime producing partner Emma Thomas, and Charles Roven, will direct the film from a screenplay he wrote with Jonathan Nolan, from a story by him and David S. Goyer.

The Dark Knight Rises is slated to release in July, 2012.

MUMBAI: The Warner Bros. Pictures Group broke the all-time industry worldwide box-office record with a gross intake of $4.814 billion in 2010 surpassing the prior record of $4.010 billion also held by Warner Bros. in 2009.

The Studio had five films gross over $100 million domestically in 2010 – Inception, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1, Clash of the Titans, Valentine‘s Day and Due Date. 

Setting new benchmarks for both the international and global box-office grosses in 2010 and retaining the domestic box-office number one ranking, the studio now holds the industry record in all three categories.

Additionally, Warner Bros. surpassed its own worldwide gross from the previous year by $800 million to be on the number one position in worldwide market share for the second consecutive year and for the sixth time in the last 10 years. Warner Bros. Pictures‘ domestic gross is estimated at $1.884 billion, making it number one in domestic market share for 2010.

“Our tentpole strategy combined with a remarkably diverse overall slate has once again proved enormously profitable at the box office,” said Dan Fellman, President, Distribution, Warner Bros. Pictures.

This is the third year in a row the Studio has held that crown and is the only studio to exceed the $1 billion threshold domestically for 10 consecutive years. Warner Bros. has been ranked either one or two domestically for seven of the last 10 years.
 

MUMBAI: The Green Hornet topped the box-office table of North American in its debut weekend, thrilling audiences with special effects. The film, with its tale of a young playboy businessman who becomes a butt-kicking crime fighter and starring Seth Rogan, took in $40 million in the four-day holiday weekend ($33.5 million for the regular weekend period).

Also in its opening weekend, Vince Vaughn‘s relationship comedy The Dilemma took in $20.5 million at the box-office in the four-day period and ranked no. 2.

Last week‘s top film, Oscar-winning brothers Joel and Ethan Coen‘s remake of John Wayne western True Grit starring Jeff Bridges slid to the third spot with a $13-million profit.

British historical drama The King‘s Speech that has been among the awards lately soared from last week‘s ninth place to the fourth position with an intake of $11 million.

The pyschological thriller Black Swan that stars Natalie Portman as a dancer in a New York company exploring the dark sides of the industry and her own sensuality, stood at fifth place with $10.1 million, for a seven-week $75-million total.
 

MUMBAI: Director Kim Tae-young‘s film Late Autumn has been invited to the 61st Berlin International Film Festival. It will screen in the Forum section of the Berlinale that kicks off on 10 February.

The film stars actor Hyun Bin, whose popularity soared recently in the hit drama Secret Garden and applied to serve his compulsory military term in the Marine Corps.

The film, a remake of a 1966 film that was directed by Lee Man-hui tells the story of a Chinese woman who falls in love with a Korean man on a bus while she is on leave from a prison term for murdering her husband.

The film will open in Korea on 17 February.
 

MUMBAI: New Regency Productions has extended its exclusive distribution deal with Fox Filmed Entertainment for an additional nine years till May 2022.

The extension was announced Monday by New Regency co-chairmen Hutch Parker and Bob Harper and FFE chairmen Jim Gianopulos and Tom Rothman. Fox has been Regency‘s worldwide distributor since 1998.

Most recently, Regency and Fox partnered on Ed Zwick‘s Love and Other Drugs, starring Jake Gyllenhaal and Anne Hathaway that grossed $66 million worldwide.

Since the beginning of its relationship with Fox, Regency has produced 55 films that have generated more than $5.3 billion at the box office.

The collaboration‘s upcoming titles are Big Mommas: Like Father, Like Son, set for a 18 Feb release; the comedy What‘s Your Number?; Monte Carlo, the 3D thriller Darkest Hour and Now.

In addition, Regency will again partner with Fox 2000 on another instalment of the Alvin and the Chipmunks franchise, Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked scheduled for a Christmas release.