Category: International

MUMBAI: Hollywood producer Bob Weinstein‘s 12,000-square foot mansion on Connecticut‘s Gold Coast near Greenwich has been put up for sale, with an asking price of $32 million.

The recently renovated six-bedroom home is owned by Weinstein, and sits on three acres, including 440 feet of shoreline overlooking Long Island Sound. Weinstein, the younger brother of producer Harvey Weinstein, purchased the sprawling Gold Coast property in 2000 but is now selling it following a divorce with his wife, Annie, last year.

The 58-year-old is the founder and head of Dimension Films, former co-chairman of Miramax Films, and current head, with his brother Harvey Weinstein, of The Weinstein Company and is known for producing hit movies such as Pulp Fiction, Shakespeare in Love, Scary Movie and The King‘s Speech.

MUMBAI: The movie will tell the story of two abandoned and scared boys in New York City and how they live in the mega city. The movie will be directed by George Tillman Jr who has previously done acclaimed movies like Soul Food and Men of Honor.

Written by Michael Starrbury, the motion picture stars Skylan Brooks, Ethan Dizon, Jordin Sparks, Jeffrey Wright, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, Anthony Mackie and Jennifer Hudson. It has some tough competition from Sony/Columbia‘s Captain Phillips and Open Road‘s Machette Kills.

The movie is produced by Lionsgate who have previously come up with big films like The Hunger Games, The Expendables 2 and have some lined up such as The Hunger Games: Catching Fire, remake of Dirty Dancing as well as The Equalizer starring Denzel Washington.

MUMBAI: Renowned actor Denzel Washington has got another big credit in his kitty. This time he will be seen opposite Diahann Carroll in the Broadway revival of A Raisin in the Sun. The play was originally done by Lorraine Hansberry 55 years ago.

Previews will be seen from 8 March 2014 and the opening night will be 3 April next year at the Barrymore Theatre, where the original production started half a century ago. The play is based on the various dreams and conflicts between three generations. Washington will be playing the second generation son and father.

Directed by Kenny Leon, A Raisin in the Sun will only be on for 14 weeks. Washington has previously worked on several big flicks such as The Preacher‘s Wife, Malcolm X, The Hurricaneand is currently going to be seen in 2 Guns with Mark Walberg. Apart from acting, he has also indulged in directing and producing movies. He has also got Equalizer waiting to be released next year. He has also won a Best Actor Academy Award for Training day.

Others who are part of the cast are Stephen Tyrone Williams, Jason Dirden, and Stephen McKinley Henderson. Washington has won several accolades in his more than two decades of acting career.

MUMBAI: Rob Corddry is in negotiations to join Cameron Diaz and Jason Segel in Sony‘s Sex Tape, which Jake Kasdan is directing.

The story revolves around a husband (Segel) and wife (Diaz) who take a night off from the kids and decide to spice things up by making a sex tape. When they wake up the next morning, the tape is missing, and the search is on.

Corddry will play the couple‘s friend who goes along on the adventure. Sex Tape is eyeing a shoot in the fall, with Escape Artists‘ Todd Black, Jason Blumenthal and Steve Tisch producing.

Corddry is in the middle of a busy period. He just wrapped filming Hot Tub Time Machine 2, for which he also helped craft the story, and can be seen on screens in The Way, Way Back. This year he also appeared in Warm Bodies and Pain & Gainand stars with Lake Bell in the indie comedy In a World, which Roadside Attractions opens 9 August.

Childrens Hospital, the Adult Swim comedy he created and stars in, is coming off its second Emmy nomination. (Corddry also created the Adult Swim series Newsreaders, which wrapped its first season.)

The funnyman is repped by WME and Principato-Young Entertainment and Hansen Jacobson.

NEW DELHI: The adorable and widely popular blue Belgian friends are back to spread their magic on the big screen from 2 August.

Sony Pictures Entertainment (SPE) is all set to release live action/animated family blockbuster comedy, The Smurfs 2 in 3D. The film will be released in English and Hindi in all key metros and is a sequel to the 2011 film The Smurfs and based on the characters and works of Belgian comics artist Peyo. The Hindi version has a song rendered by the nine participants of Sony Entertainment TV channel‘s Indian Idol Junior.

In this sequel the friendly blue creatures from mushroom houses promise to entertain their fans with more mischief and adventure.

In this installment Director Raja Gosnell introduces two new characters, the Naughties, Hackus and Vexy.

The film stars Neil Patrick Harris, Brendan Gleeson, Jayma Mays, with Katy Perry as Smurfette and Hank Azaria as Gargamel. Joining the voice cast are Christina Ricci and JB Smoove as Vexy and Hackus.

In this sequel to the hybrid live action/animated family blockbuster comedy The Smurfs, the evil wizard Gargamel creates a group of mischievous Smurf-like creatures called the Naughties to harness the all-powerful, magical Smurf-essence. But when he discovers that only a true blue Smurf can give him what he wants – and only a secret spell that Smurfette knows can turn the Naughties into real Smurfs – Gargamel kidnaps Smurfette and imprisons her in the city of Paris. To save their beloved Smurfette, Papa and the Smurfs return to our world and reunite with Patrick and Grace Winslow, joined in their new adventure by Patrick‘s estranged stepfather Vic, before Gargamel can learn the secret and rule the world!

The Smurfs, the world‘s favourite three-apple-high heroes have entertained children and adults around the world since its inception in a Belgian comic book in 1958. The Smurfs have been a great success in every medium, right from coming to life in comics, books, television series, films, videogames, live shows, figurines and finally, they ruled the world‘s box office.

The film was a global phenomenon, going on to take in over $560 million and won hearts of people across the globe.

MUMBAI: The John Le Carre adaptation stars Philip Seymour Hoffman and Rachel McAdams. Lionsgate will be distributing the movie and Anton Corbjin will be producing it. A release date has not been set yet.

The story is about a Chechen-Russian immigrating who is on the run and is trying to access his dead father‘s suspiciously acquired fortune. US and German security agencies are on the lookout for him to know if he is a victim or a mastermind.

Worldwide sales are handled by Filmnation. FilmNation Entertainment CEO Glen Basner and executive Alison Cohen made the deal.

MUMBAI: The sexuality drama series Open is being produced by Ryan Murphy. Anna Torv has had a successful stint with Fringe on Fox for five years. Jennifer Jason Leigh will be the on-screen love interest of Torv. The series will explore sexuality in the light of monogamy and intimacy in relationships.

The series starts off with Torv and Leigh in a relationship but the entrance of Grace in Torv‘s on screen character‘s life, issues crop up between the two. The actor who will play the role of Grace is still under process.

Scott Speedman will be Grace‘s gynaecologist husband. Glee‘s Dante Di Loreto will be the executive producer for Ryan Murphy Television and 20th Television‘s cable arm Fox 21.

Forv is repped by WME and United Management in Australia while Leigh is repped by CAA, Untitled and Sloane Offer. Open would be Murphy‘s second project with HBO.

MUMBAI: The sixth installment of the X-Men franchise clawed its way to $55 million this weekend, according to studio estimates from box-office trackers Hollywood.com.

While the debut was plenty to win the weekend – there were no other major newcomers as studios cleared a path for the comic-book adaptation – the opening fell short of analysts‘ projections, which called for a bow of at least $65 million.

Still, it snapped the string of high-priced live-action films that couldn‘t claim the weekend crown. Last week, the $20 million horror flick The Conjuring opened to $42 million, crushing the $130 million supernatural film R.I.P.D., which debuted to a dismal $13 million. Similarly, Pacific Rim ($37 million),The Lone Ranger ($29 million) andWhite House Down ($25 million) opened well below projections, falling to cheaper movies and animated films.

While Wolverine‘s opening was solid for a sixth franchise installment, analysts wondered whether moviegoers are suffering mutant fatigue. The previous Wolverinefilm, 2009‘s X-Men Origins: Wolverine, debuted to $85 million.

But the new film resonated with viewers, which could help its run through a typically arid August at theaters. About 68 per cent of critics gave Wolverine a thumbs-up, and the movie scored an A-minus from moviegoers, says grading site CinemaScore.

Among the holdovers, Conjuring took second with $22.1 million, followed by the animated comedy Despicable Me 2 with $16 million.

The animated Turbo was fourth with $13.3 million, while Adam Sandler‘s comedy Grown Ups 2rounded out the top five with $11.5 million.

MUMBAI: This August, Sony Pictures is all geared up to release one of the summer‘s biggest futuristic science fiction flick Elysium in Indian theatres. Set 146 years in the future, on a ravaged Earth and a luxurious habitat called Elysium, the sci-fi stars Academy Award winners Matt Damon (The Bourne Identity), Jodie Foster (Silence of the Lambs) and Sharltey Copley (District 9) in major roles. Produced by Bill Block, Simon Kinberg, Neill Blomkamp and written and directed by Oscar nominee Neill Blomkamp of District 9 fame, the film will touch upon political and sociological themes such as immigration, health care and class issues and is inspired by the South African director‘s own experiences.

Elysium takes place in the year 2159 A.D., where two classes of people exist: the extremely affluent, who live on a pristine man-made space station called Elysium, and the rest, who live on an overpopulated Earth ruined by poverty, war and crime. Secretary Delacourt (Jodie Foster) will stop at nothing to preserve the luxurious lifestyle of the citizens of Elysium – but that doesn‘t stop the people of Earth from trying to get in by any means they can. Max (Matt Damon) agrees to take on a life-threatening mission, one that could bring equality to these polarised worlds.

Neill Blomkamp‘s last outing District 9 was a critical and commercial success. The movie earned four nominations in the 2010 Academy Awards, including Best Picture and a writing (Best Adapted Screenplay) nomination for Neill Blompkamp.

Elysium will hit Indian theatres on 23 August. It will be releasing in English and Hindi.

MUMBAI: Jason Freidberg and Aaron Seltzer have not stopped entertaining the people with their spoof list. A ketchup entertainment has acquired rights to distribute The Starving Games, to be released on 8 November.

The spoof will be released days before the second part of the official series – The Hunger Games: Catching Fire. The flick is produced by Safran Company and is written and directed by the duo. With movies such as Scary Movie, Epic Movie under their belt, they plan to make everyone laugh out loud with this next.

The movie will also poke fun at pop culture flicks such as The Avengers, Sherlock Holmes, Harry Potter, Psy etc.

K5 reps international rights. Friedberg and Seltzer are working on a spoof of The Fast and the Furious called Superfast.