Category: International

MUMBAI: James Cameron is focused on finishing his Avatar novel before starting to work on its sequel.

The director hinted that the final two parts of the planned trilogy could be made into a single film. “We‘re actually talking about that. That‘s not a decision yet,” he said. 

“That is something that makes a lot of sense, given the nature of these productions, because we can shoot the entire motion capture and then go back and do cameras over a period of time,” Cameron added.

News Corp. chairman and CEO Rupert Murdoch had earlier said that Fox Studio was eyeing a sequel. He later held talks on the same with Cameron about financial and other details.
 

MUMBAI: Spyglass Entertainment is in the last lap of coming to an agreement to take control of debt-ridden Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM).

Both MGM and Spyglass have agreed on major points including how much Spyglass founders Gary Barber and Roger Birnbaum would be compensated in management fees and equity, but a few issues still need to be resolved. Barber and Birnbaum would receive an ownership stake of 4 to 5 per cent in the restructured MGM, it is believed.

According to a plan that Spyglass presented to leading creditors of MGM, Barber and Birnbaum would run a scaled-back version of the studio as co-chief executives. Under a restructuring plan, the creditors would swap their debt for equity.

However, a major point, of a breakup fee that Spyglass would be paid if MGM decides to back out of the arrangement, is still to be decided.

Spyglass, however, would remain a separate company and will continue to produce its own slate of movies. If the deal goes through, a part of the Spyglass library of about 15 films like The Sixth Sense and Seabiscuit, personally owned by Barber and Birnbaum, would become a part of MGM‘s own catalogue of 4,000 films.

Barber and Birnbaum have conveyed to MGM authorities that they plan to slash overhead costs and produce a few films on a yearly basis including James Bond sequels and two planned films with Warner Bros.‘ New Line Cinema.

MGM creditors have been weighing several options for survival as a stand-alone company. They are considering the proposed mergers with Summit Entertainment and Lions Gate Entertainment. They are also looking into Time Warner Inc’s long-standing $1.5 billion bid to acquire MGM.
 

MUMBAI: Lionsgate has reported a first-quarter loss of $64.1 million compared to the net income of $36.3 million it had recorded in the same period last year.

It is said that reduced theatrical slate coupled with increased marketing costs for titles brought down the company‘s entertainment revenue by 22 per cent to $117.1 million, from $151 million a year ago. Overall studio revenues declined by 16 per cent to $326.6 million, from $388 million.

Said Lionsgate co-chairman and CEO Jon Feltheimer in a statement, “Our first quarter was affected by marketing costs for three of our wide releases, timing of television deliveries and the underperformance of our theatrical release Killers.”

The action-comedy, made on a budget of $ 75 million, generated less than $47 million domestically and $75.5 million globally at the box office.

The loss and missed earnings comes at a time when Lionsgate remains under siege from investor Carl Icahn who is making a hostile bid to takeover the board and company.

MUMBAI: Acclaimed Iranian director Abbas Kiarostami will lead the Asian Film Academy (AFA) in a series of film workshops, master classes and special seminars designed to share knowledge on the present film production environment offered by Pusan International Film Festival that starts on 7 October.

Other faculty members of the AFA will include Japanese director Ogiganami Naoko and Korean cinematographer Kim Hyung-gu.

In the past years were celebrated directors including Taiwan‘s Hou Hsiao-Hsien (2005), Im Kown-taek (2006) and Japan‘s Kurosawa Kiyoshi (2009).

Kiarostami gained international recognition when he won the Bronze Leopard award at the Locarno International Film Festival in 1989 with his film Where is the Friend‘s Home (1987). His film Certified Copy was invited to this year‘s Cannes for which the film‘s heroine Juliette Binoche won the Best Actress award.

The Asian Film Academy started in 2005 in cooperation with PIFF and Dongseo University. Since then, the AFA has produced 123 graduates from 24 different Asian countries including emerging directors such as Boo Jun-Feng whose film Sandcastle was invited to this year‘s Cannes Film Festival.

MUMBAI: Twilight Saga swept this year‘s Teen Choice Awards grabbing a total of eleven awards.

The film series based on Stephenie Meyer‘s novels was the biggest winner at the ceremony when it picked up the ‘Choice Movie: Liplock‘ for lead stars Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart‘s kiss in The Twilight Saga: New Moon. The film also won the Choice Movie: Chemistry trophy.

Taylor Lautner, who plays werewolf Jacob Black in the film took home the Choice Fantasy: Movie Actor and Choice Male: Hottie awards. Pattinson and Stewart won the Choice Summer Movie Star: Male and Choice Summer Movie Star: Female accolades respectively.

Hollywood star Sandra Bullock won the Choice Movie Actress: Drama award for her performance in The Blind Side, the role that also won her the Best Actress Oscar.

Twilight was not the only vampire drama to dominate the event, which was hosted by California Gurls singer Katy Perry. Hit series The Vampire Diaries scooped seven awards in the television category, including Choice TV Show: Fantasy/Sci-Fi, while the show‘s leading couple Paul Wesley and Nina Dobrev won the Choice Actor and Choice Actress statuettes in the TV Fantasy/Sci-Fi category.

MUMBAI: Down by a mere 15 per cent on the weekend, Warner Bros‘ Inception stuck to its top spot for the second consecutive week grossing $46.6 million from about 8,000 screens in 58 destinations.

Over a month, Christopher Nolan‘s sci-fi thriller starring Leonardo DiCaprio drew a total foreign box-office revenue of $250 million, with $ 39.4 million from UK, $ 23.7 million from Japan,$ 4.5 million from 491 sites in Spain in the opening week and $ 2 million in Brazil from 312 locations.

Step Up 3D the third installment of the urban dance franchise released by Summit International and Universal Studios overseas played at 1,606 sites in 11 markets for an opening gross of $12.3 million.

Universal handled the Step Up 3D premieres in the UK with a gross of $3.2 million from 574 locations, in Australia it grossed $3 million from 288 spots and in New Zealand it roped in $312,000 from 57 sites.

Meanwhile, the weekend‘s No. 2 title, Pixar/Disney‘s Toy Story 3 in 3D drew $29.4 million in its latest round on the overseas circuit at 7,928 screens in 49 markets pushing its total foreign gross to $498.7 million.

No. 3 on the weekend, Sony‘s Salt opened at No. 1 in Thailand, Singapore and the Philippines and drew $16.9 million from 3,517 screens in 39 markets. The Cold War thriller starring Angelina Jolie made a total of $62.8 million since its foreign opening on 21 July.
 

MUMBAI: 84-year old Willowy, husky-voiced actress Patricia Neal, who won an Academy Award for 1963‘s Hud died on Sunday. She had lung cancer and died at her home in Edgartown.

“She faced her final illness as she had all of the many trials she endured: with indomitable grace, good humor and a great deal of her self-described stubbornness,” her family said in a statement.

Having already won an award earlier when she won her Oscar for her role as a housekeeper to the Texas father (Melvyn Douglas) battling his selfish, amoral son Paul Newman.

Less than two years later, she suffered a series of strokes in 1965 at the age of 39. Her struggle to once again walk and talk is regarded as epic in the annals of stroke rehabilitation. She returned to the screen to earn another Oscar nomination and three Emmy nominations.

The Patricia Neal Rehabilitation Center in Knoxville that helps people recover from strokes and spinal cord and brain injuries is named after her.

In her 1988 autobiography, ‘As I Am‘, she wrote, “Frequently my life has been likened to a Greek tragedy and the actress in me cannot deny that comparison.”
 

MUMBAI: The Toronto International Film Festival, due to be held from 9 to 19 September has unveiled 24 documentaries that will be screened at the fest.

The films include works of filmmakers like Werner Herzog in 3D, Alex Gibney and a collaboration with ‘The Boss.‘ The films expose issues like the banking crisis, war in Afghanistan and the future of energy among others.

The fest will have the world premiere of The Promise: The Making of Darkness on the Edge of Town with Bruce Springsteen attending. Grammy- and Emmy winner Thom Zimny will chronicle the creative process through the making of Springsteen‘s fourth album in 1978.

Werner Herzog‘s Cave of Forgotten Dreams in 3D, that shows the oldest known images created by humans from within the Chauvet caves of southern France will also have a world premiere.

Other films to be show at the fest include Errol Morris (The Fog of War, The Thin Blue Line),Kim Longinotto’s Pink Saris, Bjorn Lomborg’s Cool It, Client 9: The Rise and Fall of Eliot Spitzer by Alex Gibney. The Sound of Mumbai: A Musical,
Inside Job and Armadillo by Denmark‘s Janus Metz.
 

MUMBAI: Representatives of the Taiwanese film industry have thanked film fans for choosing to watch legitimate movies at the cinema, or at home with DVDs on TV or online through a new video trailer campaign launched on 1 August.

Film director Doze Niu, who made the film Monga appealed to people to do the right thing when he said, “Please support legitimate movies, not only for the sake of protecting the jobs of those who work in the movie industry, but also for the purpose of being able to enjoy many more touching movies.”

The video trailer also featured messages from a range of people who work in the Taiwanese film industry including cinema staff and veteran cinema projector operator, A-Kun and Motion Picture Association president and managing director Asia-Pacific Mike Ellis. Said Ellis, “This is a very worthwhile initiative which shows the industry‘s genuine appreciation for movie fans who make a choice to watch legitimate content.

Just by making that choice they are voting for a healthy film industry and that is beneficial to everyone: it’s good for protecting jobs in the film industry, including filmmakers and cinema staff, and it stimulates investment in more movies for movie fans to enjoy. I look forward to seeing more positive initiatives such as this in the future.”

MUMBAI: The lineup of the ensuing Toronto International Film Festival has been announced. Danny Boyle‘s mountain climbing drama 127 Hours will have its world premiere in Toronto.

The festival that will be held from 9 to 19 September may also serve a berth for Doug Liman‘s Fair Game that is based on the book by ousted CIA Agent Valerie Plame.

The Sean Penn and Naomi Watts-starrer and Oscar-contender is set for a November theatrical release as is Alex Gibney‘s documentary Client 9: The Rise and Fall of Eliot Spitze that has been booked to show at the Toronto fest.

Interestingly, Julie Taymor‘s The Tempest, that will be the closing night attraction at the Venice film festival on 11 September and will have its North American premiere on 2 October 2 is also likely to be part of the Toronto festival.