ITV

Category: International

  • Reese Witherspoon set for Nick Hornsby’s book adaptation ‘Wild’

    Reese Witherspoon set for Nick Hornsby’s book adaptation ‘Wild’

    MUMBAI: Fox Searchlight Pictures has announced that it has acquired worldwide rights to screenwriter Nick Hornby‘s adaptation of Cheryl Strayed‘s bestselling book Wild.

    The female-led drama will star Reese Witherspoon and will be produced by her shingle Pacific Standard with Bruna Papandrea and River Road Entertainment‘s Bill Pohlad. Fox Searchlight president Stephen Gilula and Nancy Utley said production is slated to begin in late fall once a director is chosen.

    An Oprah book selection, the novel focuses on a young woman dismayed by the dissolution of her marriage and the death of her mother and who decided to hike the Pacific Crest Trail alone. Oscar-nominated Hornsby‘s credits include An Education andHigh Fidelity while Witherspoon received Best Actress for Walk The Line.

  • Kevin Costner in talks to play the lead in ‘Midnight Delivery’

    Kevin Costner in talks to play the lead in ‘Midnight Delivery’

    MUMBAI: Kevin Costner is in talks to star in Midnight Delivery,

    a Universal thriller. The film revolves around a father, to be played by Costner, who is trafficking cocaine to London on a midnight flight in a desperate attempt to save his estranged daughter from a Colombian gang.

    The script has been written by Guellermo del Toro and Neil Cross. David Linde of Lava Bear Films is also producing along with del Toro. Gary Ungar, Tory Metzger and Russell Ackerman will be executive producers.

    Although del Toro is full with his next directorial movie Crimson Outing, he is fitting Midnight Delivery also into his schedule. Costner has recently acted in several movies such as Man of Steel and is also the holder of two Academy awards, three Golden Globe awards and one Emmy Award. Del Toro has films such as Hellboy, Blade II and the recently releasedPacific Rim in his filmmaking career.

  • After fantasy it’s sci-fi for Mackenzie Foy

    After fantasy it’s sci-fi for Mackenzie Foy

    MUMBAI: Earning fame at the age of ten in the blockbuster movieTwilight for playing the role of Renesmee Cullen, Mackenzie Foy will be rubbing shoulders with the likes of Matthew McNaughty and Anne Hathaway in Christopher Nolan‘s Interstellar.

    Final negotiations are on to join the cast of the movie which also includes Jessica Chastain, Michael Caine and Casey Affleck. Scripted by Christopher and Jonathan Nolan, his brother, the movie is about time travel and alternate dimensions. The cast will be playing a group of explorers who are traveling through a wormhole. The plot as well as Foy‘s role is still shrouded under secrecy.

    Foy has also starred in movies such as The Conjuring and is the lead in soon to be released Wish you Well, an adaptation of David Baldacci‘s book. In Twilight she played the role of coveted Renesmee Cullen, daughter of Bella Swan (Kristen Stewart) and Edward Cullen (Robert Pattinson).After earning a nomination for Best Supporting Young Actress in a Feature Film for her role in Twilight, it is time to see how this new genre will treat the 12 year old.

  • Cory Monteith of Glee fame passes away at 31

    Cory Monteith of Glee fame passes away at 31

    MUMBAI: Cory Monteith, Canadian actor and singer, known for his role as Finn Hudson on the Fox television series Glee was found dead in a Vancouver hotel room on 13 July. Although the Vancouver Police Department said the cause and the manner of death were not immediately apparent, foul play was ruled out.

    Talking about his personal affair,Monteith was in a relationship with his Glee co-star, American actress Lea Michele until his death. On 31 March, according to media reports, it was announced that Monteith had admitted himself into a treatment facility for substance addiction. He had previously received substance abuse treatment over a decade earlier, when he was 19. His treatment was completed on 26 April.

    Monteith began his acting career in Vancouver, British Columbia. He played minor roles in Final Destination 3, Whisper, and Deck the Halls. He had a recurring role in Kyle XY. He also made guest appearances in television serials such as Smallville, Supernatural, Flash Gordon, Stargate Atlantis, and Stargate SG-1. He also hosted a couple of award shows.

    In January 2011, he shot the film Sisters & Brothers with Dustin Milligan, which premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival on 11 September, 2011. He filmed a PSA for Straight But Not Narrow, an online PSA organisation aimed at changing the minds of young, straight guys and girls in their attitude and viewpoint towards the LGBT community.

  • China’s Han Geng set for ‘Transformers 4?

    China’s Han Geng set for ‘Transformers 4?

    MUMBAI: Paramount Pictures and Michael Bay have added Asian superstar Han Geng to the cast of Transformers 4.

    He would be joining the likes of Chinese actress Li Bingbing, Mark Wahlberg, Stanley Tucci, Kelsey Grammer, Jack Reynor, Nicola Peltz, Sophia Myles, and TJ Miller in the big budget sequel. 

    Geng, 29, is a singer, dancer, and actor who started his career as a member of the Korean pop group Super Junior. He‘s also been dubbed China‘s “King of Popularity,” which should help boost the region‘s box office when Paramount releases the robo-fourquel next summer.

    Transformers 4 hits screens on 27 June 2014.

     

  • Alice in Wonderland sequel locks Depp to reprise the Mad Hatter

    Alice in Wonderland sequel locks Depp to reprise the Mad Hatter

    MUMBAI: Johnny Depp‘s reps are in publicity overdrive following a week of bruising bad press when The Lone Ranger bombed and his star status was questioned. The purpose clearly is to exhibit that Johnny is very much in demand.

    And he should be despite the public rejecting both his Tonto and Barnabas Collins roles recently. Earlier in the week, Depp was tipped in negotiations for the lead in Lionsgate‘s Mortdecai, an adaptation of the 1970s mystery novels.

    And now fresh news comes that Depp has a ‘new‘ multi-year first look deal at Disney to develop film projects he can produce there. But news is that it was set and signed back with Disney in March, not recently, and just never announced. What is new is that Depp is in final discussions at Disney for the much anticipated Alice In Wonderland sequel with James Bobin (of the recent Muppets reboots) subbing for Tim Burton as director.

    Johnny‘s turn as the Mad Hatter in that 3D modern classic, of course, made over a billion bucks in worldwide gross for the studio in 2010. Old news is that Depp will reprise Capt Jack Sparrow in Disney‘s Pirates Of The Caribbean 5 dated for Summer 2015 and directed by Kon-Tikifilmmakers Joachim Ronning and Espen Sandberg.

  • Early Friday returns show ‘Pacific Rim’ and ‘Grown Ups 2’ in a tight race

    Early Friday returns show ‘Pacific Rim’ and ‘Grown Ups 2’ in a tight race

    MUMBAI: There‘s a fierce race going on at the North American box office as Guillermo del Toro‘s Pacific Rim and Adam Sandler comedy Grown Ups 2 jockey for position.

    Universal‘s Despicable Me 2, however, could beat both and claim the numero uno place in its second weekend with a gross as high as $48 million.

    Defying soft prerelease tracking, Pacific Rim is certainly doing better than expected, but the film could see a precipitous fall on Saturday once fanboy traffic slows. It took in $3.6 million in Thursday night shows, with 23 per cent coming from Imax theaters.

    Some believe the 3D sci-fi epic, from Legendary Pictures and Warner Bros, could gross in the mid-$40 million range for the weekend, though most box-office experts believe it will top out at between $35 million and $40 million, a so-so number considering the tentpole‘s $190 million-plus budget.

     

    Sony‘s Grown Ups 2 is tipped to debut in the $40 million range and earned a surprisingly strong $2.3 million in Thursday night runs. The sequel, costing $80 million to produce, opens three years after the original film turned into a box-office hit, bowing to $40.5 million and ultimately grossing $271.4 million worldwide.

    The ensemble comedy, receiving blistering reviews, reteams Sandler with Kevin James, Chris Rock, David Spade, Salma Hayek, Maya Rudolph and Maria Bello.

    Prerelease tracking for Pacific Rim was notably soft, but Warners and Legendary say stellar reviews and word of mouth are fueling a better-than-expected performance. Legendary took the lead on the movie, including paying for most of the budget.

    Pacific Rim, pitting giant robots against alien monsters, stars Charlie Hunnam, Idris Elba, Rinko Kikuchi and Charlie Day.

    verseas, Pacific Rim is off to a strong start in Asia, Russia and Argentina, though it fared dismally in Australia on Thursday, coming in No. 4 behind the opening day of The Heat, Despicable Me 2 and Monsters University (the two animated films are benefiting from school holidays).

     

    Pacific Rim grossed $7.8 million from 25 markets on Thursday, led by Russia with $2 million. It also prospered across Asia, taking in $1.5 million in South Korea, marking Warners‘ third-largest opening day of all time in that market.

    So far internationally, the epic is outpacing a slew of films that went on to gross between $300 million and $400 million overseas, including Rise of the Planet of the Apes, Clash of the Titans and Prometheus. It‘s also pacing on par with World War Z, which has earned more than $200 million to date at the foreign box office.

    Pacific Rim opens just as Thomas Tull‘s Legendary and Warners prepare to part ways. This week, Legendary announced it had struck a new co-financing and production deal with Universal.

    Despicable 2 has already earned well north of $316 million worldwide.

  • 27 Asian films gain eligibility for Busan’s Asian Cinema Fund

    27 Asian films gain eligibility for Busan’s Asian Cinema Fund

    NEW DELHI: 27 film projects, including 14 documentaries, are recipients in the latest round of the Busan International Film Festival‘s Asian Cinema Fund.

    The awards are divided into three categories, supporting script development, post-production and documentaries. There were a total of 438 submissions, up 10 per cent on last year, including 60 projects from India, 50 from China and 26 from Philippines.

    In the Script Development Fund there are three South Korean projects and four Asian projects. The South Korean selection was particularly competitive this year with an 87 per cent increase in submissions from local film-makers.

    The three local directors – GOH Tae-jeong, KIM Geon and SHIM Hyeon-seok – have a track record as short film directors and will develop their first feature films with the fund.

    The festival has a broad definition of Asia, which includes Syria, awarding a script development fund to Soudade Kaadan‘s The Day I Lost My Shadow. The three other Asian projects originate from India, Philippines and Indonesia.

    Five projects have been selected for the Post-Production Fund, three from South Korea and two from Asia.

    They include, from Mongolia, Khoroldorj Choijoovanchig‘s Yellow Coltand from Thailand, Lee Chatametikool‘s Concrete Clouds (pictured). The latter has now completed shooting and is expected to be completed by October.

    The South Korean projects – from Seo Ho-bin, Lee Yu-bin and Kim Jae-han, a former assistant director of Hong Sang-soo – are described as “artistically ambitious and clearly focused”.

    There are 14 recipients within the Asian Network of Documentary Fund, of which five are South Korean projects, including new films by established film-makers IM Heung-sun and Kim Tae-il.

    Established Asian documentary film-makers with support for their new documentary projects include China‘s DU Haibin, Singapore‘s Tan Pin Pin and Japan‘s Nakamura Takayuki.

  • Sam Mendes returns to direct Bond 24, Daniel Craig returns as british spy

    Sam Mendes returns to direct Bond 24, Daniel Craig returns as british spy

    NEW DELHI: Daniel Craig will once again return as the legendary British secret agent in the 24th James Bond film and Sam Mendes will also return to direct the screenplay written by John Logan.

    Producers Michael G. Wilson and Barbara Broccoli, EON Productions; Gary Barber, Chairman & CEO, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer; Michael Lynton, CEO, Sony Entertainment and Amy Pascal, co-chairman of Sony Pictures Entertainment, announced in Culver City in California that the film is set for release in UK theaters on 23 October 2015 and in US theaters on 6 November that year.

    Skyfall, the 23rd James Bond film, took in $1.1 billion worldwide and set a new mark as the highest-grossing film of all time in the UK; it was the best-selling Bond film on DVD/Blu-ray and was the most critically acclaimed film in the history of the longest-running film franchise.

    Commenting on the announcement, Wilson and Broccoli said, “Following the extraordinary success of Skyfall, we‘re really excited to be working once again with Daniel Craig, Sam Mendes and John Logan.”

    “I am very pleased that by giving me the time I need to honour all my theatre commitments, the producers have made it possible for me to direct Bond 24. I very much look forward to taking up the reins again, and to working with Daniel Craig, Michael G. Wilson and Barbara Broccoli for a second time,” said Mendes.

    Barber added, “We are thrilled to reunite the extraordinary talents of director Sam Mendes with our star Daniel Craig for the next great Bond adventure.” He added, “As evidenced by the phenomenal success of our last collaboration with EON Productions and Sony, the incredible legacy of this 51-year-old franchise continues to amaze.”

    Lynton and Pascal said, “It‘s a privilege to work on the Bond films. EON, John Logan and Sam Mendes have come up with an extraordinary follow up to Skyfall and we, along with our partners at MGM, can‘t wait to share this new chapter with audiences all over the world.”

  • ‘Hot Wheels’ director search nearing finish line

    ‘Hot Wheels’ director search nearing finish line

    MUMBAI: Hot Wheels is about to get into gear. The Legendary project is based on the classic Mattel toy car line and has been seeking a director to put in the driver‘s seat.

    Simon Crane, the veteran second-unit director who is coming off of World War Z, and Juan Carlos Fresnadillo, best known for directing 28 Weeks Later, are the front-runners for the high-octane gig states The Hollywood Reporter.

    Art Marcum and Matt Holloway wrote the script for the project, which is intended to be more on the lines of a Mission: Impossible than Fast & Furious.

    Legendary is hoping to get the movie revving in the first quarter of 2014. It is intended to be part of Legendary‘s second wave of movies that counts Spectral, Godzilla and As Above So Below among them. (The first wave includes 42, Pacific Rim and Seventh Son.) And it is likely to end up at Universal, the company‘s new home starting in 2014, after its term deal with Warner Bros expires.

    Crane is considered one the premiere second-unit directors in the business, with credits including Salt, Mr. & Mrs. Smith and Troy. He is also one of Hollywood‘s top stunt coordinators. He has been attached to make his directorial debut on several projects, but none has reached the starting line.

    Fresnadillo just came on board to direct Villain, a psychological thriller that has Shia LaBeouf attached to star. The project is in development at Start Motion Pictures.