Category: International

MUMBAI: The Warner Bros. Pictures Group is set to break the all-time industry worldwide box-office record of $3.66 billion, set by it in 2007, for the year 2009 with a projected year-end gross of $3.99 billion in global receipts.

Warner Bros. Pictures domestic gross is projected at $2.13 billion, surpassing the industry record of $1.789 billion set by the studio in 2008. Warner Bros. Pictures International continues to perform extremely well at the global box-office with a projected $1.86 billion year-end gross. 2009 is the ninth consecutive billion-dollar-plus year for both the domestic and international film distribution arms.

“We‘re really proud of this achievement and it was only possible through the combined efforts of an incredibly talented group of people, including everyone involved with the creation, production, marketing and distribution of more than two dozen films worldwide over the last 12 months,” said Warner Bros. Pictures Group President Jeff Robinov.

“We have a great team leading our global efforts, including Sue Kroll, Dan Fellman and Veronika Kwan-Rubinek, and along with Barry Meyer and Alan Horn, I congratulate everyone involved in helping us attain this success and look forward to continuing our creative and commercial winning streak,” Robinov added.

Highlights of the Warner Bros. Pictures Groups success in 2009 include:

Warner Bros. Pictures opened nine films in the #1 position at the U.S. box office in a single year-Gran Torino, Hes Just Not That Into You, Friday the 13th, Watchmen, 17 Again, The Hangover, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, The Final Destination and Where the Wild Things Are.

Warner Bros Pictures had 12 weeks of #1 movies at the U.S. box-office, more than any other studio in 2009.
The Studio has had five films gross over $100 million domestically in 2009- Watchmen ($107 million),
Terminator Salvation ($125 million), The Hangover ($277 million), Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince ($302 million) and The Blind Side ($185 million, still in release) and Sherlock Holmes is projected to cross the $100 million mark.

The Studio has also had five films gross over $100 million internationally in 2009-Yes Man ($132 million), The Curious Case of Benjamin Button ($205 million), Gran Torino ($121 million), The Hangover ($190 million and Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince ($632 million).

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince is the highest-grossing worldwide film of 2009 with $934 million in worldwide box-office receipts. It‘s also the second-highest domestic-grossing Harry Potter movie at $302 million and the third-highest-grossing internationally with more than $632 million at the overseas box office.

The Hangover earned more than $277 million domestically, making it the top-grossing R-rated comedy of all time. The film is also the highest-grossing R-rated U.S. comedy overseas of all time at $190 million.

The Blind Side spent its third week in release at the #1 spot at the U.S. box-office and has grossed $185 million domestically to date and continues to play at 2766 locations throughout the holidays.

Gran Torino marked the biggest opening weekend ever for a Clint Eastwood film and his highest-grossing film ever domestically and worldwide. The film grossed $148 million domestically and $121 million overseas.

Friday the 13th had the largest four-day opening of all time for a horror film.
Among the Studios 2010 releases are Valentines Day (from New Line Cinema), starring Julia Roberts, Anne Hathaway, Bradley Cooper, Jennifer Garner, Jamie Foxx, George Lopez and Queen Latifah; Clash of the Titans, starring Sam Worthington, Liam Neeson and Ralph Fiennes; Sex and the City 2 (also from New Line), the sequel to the 2008 box-office hit; Christopher Nolans Inception, starring Leonardo DiCaprio; and Harry Potter and the Death.

MUMBAI: The 60th Berlin International Film Festival has selected Indian filmmaker Madhusree Dutta‘s Cinema City for screening.

This “installation project” will be on display in several cinema foyers, exploring questions about the relationship between urban space and cinema during the Festival in Berlin from 11 to 21 February.

Filmfare and National awards winner Dutta, a National School of Drama (NSD) alumni besides filmmaking, is also said to be a producer-curator-pedagogue-researcher-activist.

Congratulating Dutta and her project team, acclaimed Indo-American statesman Rajan Zed, in a statement in Nevada (USA) today urged India Government and large private conglomerates of India to promote independent cinema.

Another Indian entry into this Festival is My Name Is Khan in ‘out of competition‘ category. Directed by Karan Johar, its cast includes Shah Rukh Khan and Kajol besides Christopher B. Duncan who plays US President Barack Obama. It is the story of Rizwan Khan of Mumbai who suffers from Asperger syndrome.

Berlin International Film Festival is said to be ‘the biggest audience event in the film world‘. The last Berlin Festival registered 486,955 visitors from 136 countries with 389 film screenings.

MUMBAI: Iranian cinematographer Shahriar Asadi has won the Best Cinematographer Award at the 2nd International Noah‘s Ark Film Festival in Russia.

He received the award for the Kazakhstan-Georgia production The Other Bank directed by George Ovashvili. The feature-length film was also granted the event‘s Award for the Best First Work of a Director in Full-Length Feature Film.

The Other Bank has been screened and awarded in countless international festivals such as the 2009 Paris Cinema and Seattle International Film Festival.

Iranian actor Hossein Yari received the 2009 festival‘s Best Actor Award for his acting in Mohammad-Ebrahim Moayyeri‘s White Sneakers.

Russia‘s 2009 International Noah‘s Ark Film Festival screened nine feature-length and 21 short films from 18 countries in its competition section.

MUMBAI:Cinema Popular‘s action thriller Bodyguards And Assassins has topped the Chinese box office over the holiday period racking up $30m (RMB208m) till date.

The film that opened on 18 December in China and across Asia on Christmas Eve has accumulated more than $35m (RMB238m) including Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, and Taiwan.

The box office office gross equals that of Warlords, the last production made by Bodyguards And Assassins producer Peter Ho-sun Chan.

The film will open in Thailand through United Home Entertainment and UIP on 7 January followed by Korea by CJ Entertainment on 21 January and the UK with E1 Entertainment this coming spring.

MUMBAI: According to US theatre owners, Sandra Bullock shone as 2009‘s top Hollywood star at the box-office after the actress scored with audiences after nearly a two-year absence from screens.

A Quigley Publishing Co.‘s annual list released on Thursday of top money-making stars, based on a poll of hundreds of theatre executives had Bullock beat stars like George Clooney and Denzel Washington on the strength of her roles in The Proposal and The Blind Side.

While The Proposal made $315 million at worldwide box-offices after its June release, The Blind Side made $193 million in the US and Canada alone since its 20 November release.

Bullock, who also starred in All About Steve with its $34 million take in the US and Canada is the eighth woman to top Quigley‘s list of top money-making stars which the company has put out each year since 1932.

Quigley Publishing said the list does not rank stars only on how much their films made but on what theatre owners say about who attracts audiences on their star power alone.

The last woman to top Quigley‘s list was Julia Roberts in 1999. She failed to make Quigley‘s 2009 top 10 this year, after her turn in romantic comedy Duplicity bombed at the box-office.

MUMBAI: Oscar contenders Lee Daniels, Rob Marshall and Lone Scherfig are scheduled to take part in on-stage interviews following screenings of Precious, Nine and An Education at the 21st Annual Palm Springs International Film Festival‘s (PSIFF).

The new programme designed to focus on select Academy Awards frontrunners includes a panel of four directors of strong foreign-language Oscar contenders.

Discussing their careers, work and the ways in which their films reflect current events and issues in their countries will be Switzerland‘s Ursula Meier, director of Home; Yaron Shani and Scandar Copti, directors of Israeli drama Ajami Australia‘s Samson & Delilah director Warwick Thornton; and Felix van Groeningen and his Belgian contender The Misfortunates.

The festival runs from 5 to 18 January.

MUMBAI:For the first time ever a music video has been added to the US national film archive. Michael Jackson‘s Thriller, the 1983 zombie classic is among 25 films that will be preserved for their cultural importance.

The 1979 made Muppet Movie and Bette Davis‘s black and white classic Jezebel are the other new entrants to the library.

The archive, established 20 years ago, ensures important films are preserved for future generations‘. Oscar-winning films that made the cut include Jezebel, which won Davis her second Academy Award.

Mrs Miniver made in 1942 won the Academy Award for best picture among its haul of six trophies. Science fiction classic The Incredible Shrinking Man has been added to the archive, while the oldest film is Little Nemo from 1911.

Said National Film Preservation Board‘s (NFPB) co-ordinator Steve Legett, “The time was right for Thriller‘s inclusion after Jackson‘s death earlier this year. Because of the way the recording industry is evolving and changing, we thought it would be good to go back to the development of an earlier seismic shift, the development of the music video.”

The landmark video, directed by John Landis features Jackson as a werewolf and zombie, helped the star to promote Thriller around the world.

The final 25 films are picked every year from hundreds of public nominations and consultation with the NFPB.
 

MUMBAI: Quentin Tarantino and Marion Cotillard have been added to the Palm Springs International Film Festival Awards Gala.

While Cotillard will receive the Desert Palm Achievement Actress Award, Tarantino will receive the Sonny Bono Visionary Award.

This will be Cotillard‘s second festival award. She received the Breakthrough Performance Award in 2008 for her role as Edith Piaf in La Vie En Rose.She is currently starring in Rob Marshall‘s Nine.

This year Tarantino came into the limelight in Inglourious Basterds. He has also done films like Pulp Fiction, Kill Bill Vol. 1, Kill Bill Vol. 2 and Reservoir Dogs.

Honorees whose names have been previously announced are Jeff Bridges, T Bone Burnett, Mariah Carey, Morgan Freeman, Anna Kendrick, Helen Mirren, Jason Reitman and Jeremy Renner.

The festival runs from 30 December to 18 January.
 

MUMBAI: Writer, director Peter Jackson, whose widely-appreciated Lord of the Rings trilogy bagged as many as 17 Oscars, has been conferred with a knighthood in New Zealand.

He becomes Sir Peter Jackson for what the annual list honoring the country‘s worthy citizens simply calls “services to film.”

New Zealand knights and dames, among the nation‘s highest honors, are sanctioned by Britain‘s Queen Elizabeth II, New Zealand‘s head of state.

The Lord of the Rings triology showcased New Zealand‘s unique natural scenery as writer J.R.R. Tolkien‘s fantasy land, filled with sword-swinging warriors, elves, wizards and hairy-footed hobbits.

MUMBAI: The 22-year old Robert Pattinson may end up with a multi-million pound share of earnings from his latest project, the hit Twilight series.

Pattison, who plays vampire Edward Cullen, was said to be set for a double treat from the series based on books by Stephanie Meyer.

Reports say that Summit Entertainment is mulling splitting the final novel Breaking Dawn into two parts after the latest film, New Moon made nearly 300 million pounds in just two weeks of its opening.

Said a source, “It‘s an extraordinary cash cow and the company wants to keep it going for as long as possible. They‘re giving very serious consideration to the idea.

“A lot of cheque-waving and glad-handing would have to happen if the plan goes ahead. No one is locked into a fifth movie so the key talent could be looking at multi- million pound pay days,” the source added.