Category: International

MUMBAI: Warner Bros.‘ 3D action fantasy Clash of the Titans opened stupendously and logged an estimated $4.2 million from screenings on Thursday evening and midnight in about 3,000 domestic theaters.

Meanwhile, the week’s second release, Disney‘s The Last Song collected $4.2 million in its second day of release. The film lapped up $9.3 million since it released on Wednesday.

At most places, Titans played only in 2D in the absence of 3D screens. But Friday onwards, at least half of its 3,700 weekend engagements will have the Sam Worthington-starrer film in 3D in a minimum of one multiplex screen.

Titans registered a record $31,000 in Guam, a traditional bellwether market for film releases.

Some reviewers, however, aver that this film is pale in comparison to the last edition.
 

MUMBAI: The unseen boss of Charlie‘s Angels, the put-upon plutocrat of Dynasty, John Forsythe is no more. The TV and film star expired on Thursday at the age of 92.

Born in 1918 in Penns Grove, N.J., as John Lincoln Freund, the son of a Wall Street stockbroker, Forsythe married and divorced early, joined the Army and, as a soldier, appeared in the Broadway play Winged Victory and the war movie Destination Tokyo, both in 1943. (On Broadway he met his second wife, actress Julie Warren; they were married for 51 years, until her death in 1994.) Forsythe returned to Hollywood after the war and, except for a starring role in the 1953 Broadway hit The Teahouse of the August Moon, remained out West.

Forsythe‘s uncomplicated manliness appealed to Alfred Hitchcock who cast the young man as the lead in the grindingly whimsical 1955 comedy The Trouble With Harry. Later Hitchcock signed Forsytheto play the role of a man accused of murder in the 1962 TV drama I Saw the Whole Thing. Seven years later, Forsytheto essayed the role of a government agent in Topaz.

The small screen later allured Forsythe. He began his series work with Bachelor Father that ran from 1957 to 1962 on CBS, then NBC and finally ABC. Over the next three decades, the actor anchored three other sitcoms: in 1965 The John Forsythe Show (an Air Force major inherits a San Francisco girls‘ school), in 1969 To Rome With Love (a widower moves his three daughters from Iowa to the Eternal City for a teaching position) and, as he was nearing 75, The Powers That Be, about an inept U.S. Senator whose wife (Holland Taylor) runs the show. Imagine the James Gregory-Angela Lansbury couple from The Manchurian Candidate.

In Richard Brooks‘ 1967 movie of Truman Capote‘s In Cold Blood. Robert Blake and Scott Wilson got the emoting headlines as the real-life Kansas killers, while Forsythe, as FBI agent Alvin Dewey, had the job of explaining their crimes to the audience.

If an actor is someone who sells the script without making it sound like a carny‘s come-on, then John Forsythe was him.

MUMBAI: The third edition of Gulf Film Festival (GFF) will honour three legends with lifetime achievement awards.

Emirati actress Raziqa Al Taresh, Iraqi actor and playwright Khalil Shawki and Kuwait‘s actress Hayat Al Fahad will receive the honours when the festival opens on 8 April.

The three-some join the league of Kuwaiti director and producer Khalid Al-Siddiq, renowned UAE writer Abdel-Rahman Saleh and veteran Bahraini filmmaker Khalifa Shaheen, who were honoured by the GFF last year.

Said GFF Festival Director Masoud Amralla Al Ali, “The emergence of a powerful television and film industry in the Gulf region owes to the contribution of immensely talented and creative individuals who braved odds to pursue their passion. Raziqa Al Taresh, Khalil Shawki and Hayat Al Fahad have all blazed a trail in their own right, and in doing so, serve as an inspiration for young film talent.”

“These distinguished artists have devoted their careers to enhancing the Arab film industry. They set in stone the foundation for Arab talent and paved the way for regional and global recognition for Arab cinema. Dubai and the Gulf Film Festival are privileged to honour them, “Al Ali added.

The Gulf Film Festival is supported by Dubai Culture & Arts Authority and held in association with Dubai Studio City.
 

MUMBAI: A Los Angeles film-making couple, Gerald and Patricia Green, convicted of bribing Thai officials so that they could run the Bangkok International Film Festival could breathe a sense of relief for some time at least because their sentencing has been delayed for29 April.

They were scheduled to be sentenced on April 1.The convicted could each face more than 20 years in prison for money laundering charges. 

Prosecutors say that the duo paid a former Thai tourism official about $1.8 million to secure details of the Bangkok Film Festival and tourism-related deals.

However, defense attorneys of the Greens contend that their clients didn‘t bribe anyone.

The Greens are the first entertainment industry figures convicted under the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.

MUMBAI: The Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles (IFFLA) has come out with the 2010 line-up of films of its 8th annual festival that runs from 20 to 25 April.

Kicking off the festival would be the directorial debut of Dilip Mehta‘s Cooking With Stella starring Seema Biswas, Lisa Ray, and Don McKellar. Bollywood By Night returns with the screenings of 3 Idiots, Kaminey and the newly re-mastered print of Ashes To Ashes (Raakh), the film that launched Aamir Khan. 3 Idiots also stars Aamir Khan, while Kaminey that highlights on mistaken identity stars Shahid Kapoor.

Said IFFLA‘s Executive Director Christina Marouda, “This is a true celebration of the art and business of Indian film and culture as well as an opportunity to connect with the game changers and emerging filmmakers of Indian themed content.

“As filmmakers of Indian descent forge new relationships in Hollywood, we invite moviegoers and industry professionals to experience our unique and wide ranging program which includes thought-provoking dramas, engaging documentaries, along with a touch of light hearted fare and a taste of Bollywood.”

The festival will close with a Gala event featuring the Australian film The Waiting City directed by Claire McCarthy starring Radha Mitchell, Joel Edgerton and Samrat Chakrabarti. McCarthy, Mitchell and Chakrabarti.
 

MUMBAI: The spotlight of this year‘s Gulf Film Festival – the annual event celebrating Gulf cinema held under the patronage of Chairman of the Dubai Culture & Arts Authority Sheikh Majid Bin Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum – will be on French filmmaker Francois Vogel. An eclectic selection of his 16 short films is due to be screened.

Globally renowned for his arresting visuals that blend the best of traditional filmmaking with New Age digital media, Vogel is as much an illustrious digital photographer as a filmmaker who experiments with cubist squares, three dimensional approaches and free-moving elements.

GFF Festival Director Masoud Amralla Al Ali says that the selection of Vogel‘s shorts for the ‘In Focus‘ segment of the festival is reflective of the evolution in filmmaking techniques today. “With technology breaking all barriers in film-making, young filmmakers show a growing interest in digital filmmaking techniques.”

“Vogel is known for his creative liberties in manipulating the space between the subject and the camera, even as he explores serious subject matter such as the absurdity of wars. His movies will serve as a referral point in new age film-making, and inspire regional filmmakers to look beyond the accepted frontiers,” he added.

Vogel began his career in visual arts with video artist Dominik Barbier‘s gallery installations and gained international acclaim with his ‘You‘ campaign for HP. He conceputalised the ‘Picture Book‘ campaign that won AdWeek‘s Campaign of the Year.

Some of films of Vogel to be screened from 8 to 14 April are After the Rain; Cuisine; Rebus; Les Crabes; Tournis; Trois petits chats; Readymade, Live @ the End; Rue Francis; Faux plafond; Cueillette; La Poule Gerard; Le Bruit de la vrillette; Riante contree; La Sieste sous les cocotiers; Un cirque vraiment extraordinaire and Stretching.

MUMBAI: Prosecutors in the Roman Polanski case are angry on the lawyers of Roman Polanski and deny that they tried to conceal evidence in his 32-year-old sex case. On the other hand, they have renewed their demands that an appeals court order Polanski to return to the United States for sentencing.

In a 26-page brief filed on Tuesday, two prosecutors who handle appellate matters for the district attorney‘s office argued that allowing Polanski to avoid extradition from Switzerland hurts the integrity of the judicial system more than revelations of alleged misconduct by a now deceased judge.

They also claim there has been a misinterpretation of an extradition treaty with Switzerland and that Polanski should be returned for a Court hearing in Los Angeles.

The 76-year-old film director fled the US in 1978 after pleading guilty to unlawful sexual intercourse with a minor.

He remains under house arrest in Switzerland.
 

MUMBAI: Lenders of MGM will meet on Thursday to decide a course of action in the wake of not-so-happy bids for the studio.

Further bidding for the entire studio is unlikely, but a handful of investors may likely be asked to make offers on narrow equity stakes as a means of raising operating capital.

It may be noted that Wednesday is the deadline on a $200 million-plus interest payment by MGM, the credit facility of which expires on 8 April 8.

To get past those two deadlines, something like a 15-day extension of the most recent debt-forbearance agreement is envisioned. MGM and its consultant Moelis & Co. have asked for a 45-day extension, but lenders seem in no mood to comply.

Though attempts to sell the studio outright seem to have hit a road block, an eventual restructuring of the Lion appears inevitable. Companies keen to assist in the process are expected to meet representatives of Moelis and MGM chief Stephen Cooper in an effort to detail investment proposals key to any restructuring.

While Access Industries, Qualia Capital and Anchorage Advisors are among those willing to invest $500 million-$1 billion in MGM to obtain a chunk of studio equity, News Corp. has also show interest.

While Sony has evinced interest in the James Bond rights, Warner Bros. would be willing to buy out MGM‘s share of Hobbit which Warners controls 50-50 with the Lion.

Meeting in Los Angeles, a J.P. Morgan-led lenders committee will discuss ways to restructure MGM, with the aim of making a recommendation to the entire lenders group.

The debtholders would have about a week to vote, with two-thirds majority needed to approve any plan.

MUMBAI: Legendary Pictures has acquired the rights to develop and produce a new feature based on Godzilla, the iconic Toho Co. character.

Through its deal with Legendary Films, the film will be co-produced, co-financed and distributed by Warner Bros. while Toho will distribute the film in Japan.

The last major Godzilla outing from Roland Emmerich and Dean Devlin was set in New York grossed $376 million worldwide in 1998. The following year Toho produced Godzilla 2000 in which the big beast took on an evil UFO.

The new film is aiming for a 2012 release.

Warner Bros. and Legendary have earlier partnered on global properties such as Batman Begins, The Dark Knight, Superman Returns and The Hangover that grossed more than $2 billion worldwide.
 

MUMBAI: Samuel Goldwyn Films has acquired Bruce Beresford dance epic Mao‘s Last Dancer that will have a 6 August release.

The film, a true-life story of Chinese dancer Li Cunxin and his defection to the US and subsequent life in Australia, is directed by Beresford and produced by Jane Scott, from a screenplay by Jan Sardi. The film stars Bruce Greenwood, Kyle MacLachlan, Joan Chen, Chi Cao and Amanda Schull.

Mao‘s Last Dancer opened in Australia late last year and grossed AUS$15.4 million ($14 million) to become the 12th top grossing Australian film of all time. 

Samuel Goldwyn Films chairman and CEO of Samuel Goldwyn Films Sam Goldwyn Jr. said, Mao‘s Last Dancer is a hauntingly beautiful film with universal appeal that I‘ve been thinking about since Toronto.”

Mao‘s Last Dancer was runner up to Precious for the Audience Award at the 2009 Toronto Film Festival and winner of the Audience Award at the 2009 Sao Paulo Film Festival in Brazil.

Mao‘s US domestic pick up follows Sony‘s announcement last week that it had acquired Australian neo western Red Hill for release there this year.