ITV

Category: International

  • Despicable Me 2 sets records with $34.3 mn Wednesday opening

    Despicable Me 2 sets records with $34.3 mn Wednesday opening

    MUMBAI: Traditionally, Fourth of July is a slow movie going day since Americans will be outdoors enjoying what should be good weather nationally. The domestic box office numbers do not tell the full story until Friday at the earliest. But there‘s no question that the ‘A‘ cinema score for Illumination Entertainment‘s and Universal‘s Despicable Me 2 (3,957 theaters) will help it gross well over $120 million domestic for the five-day Fourth of July holiday.

    On Wednesday the well-received and well-reviewed toon opened no 1 with $34.3 mn which is “an incredible start” according to a Universal executive. That‘s higher than Monsters University‘s Friday take of $30.5 mn last month. And it‘s setting records – the third highest opening day ever for an animated feature, the 8th highest Wednesday opening ever, and the biggest Wednesday opening of all-time for Universal. 

    The sequel‘s big draws are those lovable Minions who in the original toon were given form and function by Coffin & Renaud to underscore the comedy surrounding Gru‘s madcap mayhem. Reportedly for the first pic, the pair looked at previous peons like Oompa Loompas from Willy Wonka & The Chocolate Factory and the Jawas from Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope.

    This time around, the scribes just wrote as many Minions scenes as they could squeeze into the sequel. And in 2014 the little yellow guys even get their own stand alone Minion movie with Sandra Bullock and Jon Hamm already attached. Meanwhile, the end credits feature the Minion wack-pack‘s 3D demo.

  • Asian films win major prizes at Moscow International Film Festival

    Asian films win major prizes at Moscow International Film Festival

    NEW DELHI: Omori Tatsushi‘s The Ravine of Goodbye from Japan won the Special Jury Prize “Silver George” while Jung Young-heon‘s Lebanon Emotion from South Korean won the “Silver George” for best director at the recent 35th Moscow International Film Festival.

    The Ravine of Goodbye is about a reporter who uncovers a rapist and his victim living together in a small town, fifteen years after the crime, while Lebanon Emotion which is a low-budget drama about two strangers running away had premiered at the Jeonju International Film Festival.

    The “Golden George” main prize went to Erdem Tepegöz‘s Particle (Zerre) from Turkey about a family of three living in an apartment block that has been evacuated for destruction. Its female star, Jale Arikan, was also awarded the best actress prize.

    The festival lineup included an eight-film Korean Cinema Showcase that included a diverse mix of recent films including Juvenile Offender, A Werewolf Boy, New World and The Thieves.

    The festival also hosted a gala screening of Furuhata Yasuo wartime memoir A Boy Called and – in its Sex, Food, Culture, Death sidebar – Li Yu‘s Double Xposure and Hashimoto Hajime‘s Princess Sakura: Forbidden Pleasures.

    The Festival saw a footfall of 72,000 during the 10-day event.

  • Insidious is back to drive the daylight out of its viewers

    Insidious is back to drive the daylight out of its viewers

    NEW DELHI: The famed horror team of director James Wan and writer Leigh Whannell, which created the successful Insidious two years earlier, have reunited with the original cast of Patrick Wilson, Rose Byrne, Lin Shaye, Barbara Hershey and Ty Simpkins in a terrifying sequel to the acclaimed horror film.

    Insidious: Chapter 2 follows the haunted Lambert family as they seek to uncover the mysterious childhood secret that has left them dangerously connected to the spirit world.

    When Insidious released back in April 2011, it went on to become one of the most profitable films of the year having been made for only $1.5 million and grossing $97 million worldwide.

    Made by the makers of Saw and Paranormal Activity, the sequel sees Rose Byrne and Patrick Wilson reprising their roles.

    The film is slated for release on 25 October.

  • DreamWorks, Spielberg plan to revive John Steinbeck’s ‘The Grapes Of Wrath’

    DreamWorks, Spielberg plan to revive John Steinbeck’s ‘The Grapes Of Wrath’

    MUMBAI: DreamWorks is in talks with the estate of author John Steinbeck to make a new version of The Grapes Of Wrath. The novel was turned into a classic 1940 film by John Ford, the director who won one of two Oscars out of the seven nominations the picture received.

    DreamWorks confirmed that Spielberg is only going to be producing the picture, and will absolutely not direct it. It might be awkward turf since director Ford was one of Spielberg‘s formative influences. There is some rationale to this, if DreamWorks was looking to capitalise on the 75th anniversary of Steinbeck‘s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel. That anniversary happens next year, and Spielberg is next committed to directing Jason Hall‘s adaptation of American Sniper with Bradley Cooper starring.

    For those who haven‘t read it in high school, The Grapes Of Wrath is about a poor family of tenant farmers forced to move off its land in Oklahoma because of drought and hopeless economic conditions. Spurred by the promise of high wages for farm workers, the Joads head to California, but are beaten down by poverty and hunger in the Great Depression. The film introduced the defiant and tragic protagonist Tom Joad (played by Henry Fonda), who has been an enduring symbol for social reform.

    Among those chasing the book were Robert Redford, whose Sundance label was looking to partner with Dark Shadows producer David Kennedy to turn The Grapes Of Wrath into a miniseries at FX. That was until Spielberg came in with the feature and convinced the Steinbeck estate this was the way to go. The rights to the classic novel come with complications, however. Fox made the original film and even though the domestic rights reverted back to the Steinbeck estate, the foreign rights to the film are controlled by that studio.

  • White House Down invites army personnel for Fourth of July screening

    White House Down invites army personnel for Fourth of July screening

    MUMBAI: Sony Pictures will offer active military personnel and veterans free admission to see the Roland Emmerich helmed White House Down on the Fourth of July.

    The offer, valid for Independence Day only, is open to anyone showing proper military identification. Regal Entertainment Group, AMC Theatres, Cinemark, and Carmike Cinemas are participating in the offer. Seating will be available on a first-come, first-served basis and each military member may bring one guest.

    “We think White House Down is the summer‘s best action movie”, said Sony Pictures president of worldwide distribution Rory Bruer. “Seeing White House Down is a great way to celebrate the holiday and to honor and thank the troops for their service to our country.”

    This announcement follows a disappointing US debut for the Channing Tatum and Jamie Foxx tentpole, which grossed just $24.8 million in its first weekend.

    The movie, which follows an ambitious capitol policeman (Tatum) and the president of the United States (Foxx) as they fight for survival during a terrorist attack on the White House, is also dodging punches from some conservatives who are urging audiences to boycott the film due to what they claim is liberal bias.

  • ‘Monty Python’ star Michael Palin cast in BBC War Drama

    ‘Monty Python’ star Michael Palin cast in BBC War Drama

    MUMBAI: British comedian, actor, writer and presenter Michael Palin will star in TV movie The Wipers Times, a World War I drama to air on BBC2. As reported by The Hollywood Reporter.

    The drama details the story of how a squad of British soldiers in the trenches produced and published their own satirical magazine during the First World War.

    The movie is co-written by Ian Hislop, a regular on satirical British TV show Have I Got News For You, and also the editor of Private Eye, the UK‘s weekly paper which takes a humorous and often barbed look at the political scene and the media.

    Palin will join Ben Chaplin, Julian Rhind-Tutt and Emilia Fox in the drama also written by Nick Newman and directed by Andy De Emmony.

    The movie is produced by Oscar winning producer David Parfitt through his banner Trademark Films and is backed by BBC, Northern Ireland Screen Fund (supported by Invest NI and part funded by the European Regional Development Fund), Goldcrest Films and Content Media.

    The Wipers Times combined dark humor and satirical swipes at allies and enemies and was set up an abandoned printing press discovered in the ruins of Ypres, Belgium.

    Palin‘s more than 40-year career on television and movies includes being a founding member of legendary comedy collective Monty Python, featuring in such classics as Monty Python‘s Flying Circus, The Holy Grailand Life of Brian.

  • ‘World War Z‘ No 1 film globally this weekend grossing $100 million

    ‘World War Z‘ No 1 film globally this weekend grossing $100 million

     MUMBAI: Brad Pitt‘s World War Z‘s global appeal continues, ranking as the No 1 film worldwide this weekend with a $100 million collection. The film has now earned $263 million at the world wide box office after 10 days in theatres.

    From Paramount Pictures and Skydance Productions, in association with Hemisphere Media Capital and GK Films, World War Z grossed an astounding $70.1 million at the international box office this weekend to bring the international cume to a rock solid $135.3 million. Domestically, the film earned $29.8 million in its second weekend, with a cume to date of $123.7 million.
    The film has scored high among moviegoers, and with a strong word of the mouth for the movie the numbers are only showcasing an upward trend.

    With approximately one-third of the international market still to release, the international roll-out of World War Z continues next week with France with additional territories, including Spain and Japan, opening later in the summer.

    World War Z is directed by Marc Forster from a screenplay by Matthew Michael Carnahan and Drew Goddard & Damon Lindelof, and a screen story by Matthew Michael Carnahan and J. Michael Straczynski, based on the novel by Max Brooks and produced by Brad Pitt, Dede Gardner, Jeremy Kleiner and Ian Bryce.

  • British zombie Film with Indian actors to open Frightfest in London

    British zombie Film with Indian actors to open Frightfest in London

    NEW DELHI: The Dead 2: India a zombie film shot in India and starring Indian actors will open the 14th edition of Frightfest, a genre festival in the UK.

    The Dead 2: India by the Ford Brothers is the sequel to the hugely successful zombie horror The Dead. The film is set in Rajasthan.

    The film follows the story of India-based American engineer Nicholas Burton (Joseph Millson) in a race against time to reach his pregnant girlfriend Ishani Sharma (Meenu). Burton enlists the help of an orphan street kid Javed (Anand Goyal) and together they make a perilous 300 mile journey across deadly landscapes as a zombie apocalypse threatens to engulf the entire nation.

    Howard and Jon Ford, the British director, writer and producer team behind the film said: “It‘s truly an honour to be the opening film – mind-blowing! Being at FrightFest for The Dead was such an incredible experience for us and one of the highlights of our whole journey with the film. It is an awesome event with a brilliant crowd and we both sincerely cannot wait to see you all there.”

    FrightFest will open from 22 August and continue till 26 August at the Empire Cinema, Leicester Square, in London.

  • ‘Monsters University’ still tops box office, ‘The Heat’ knocks out ‘White House Down’

    ‘Monsters University’ still tops box office, ‘The Heat’ knocks out ‘White House Down’

    MUMBAI: Monsters University retains the North American box office throne. The Billy Crystal-starring movie about the college life of Mike Wazowski and Suley Sullivan bagged an estimated $46.2 million in its second run for Walt Disney Pictures, a 44 per cent drop from last weekend‘s opening.

    Paul Feig helmed The Heat stands at No. 2 in its first week with approximately $40 million. The reason for the Sandra Bullock starrer doing well has been attributed to it being marketed well. Sony Pictures‘ White House Down, meanwhile, debuts to an estimated $25.7 million in the fourth place. Despite the disappointing result, the action-heavy movie starring Channing Tatum and Jamie Foxx is expected to still play well over the next few weeks.

    World War Z, the zombie flick starring Brad Pitt, drops 55 per cent to approximately $29.8 million in its second outing, taking the third spot. Rounding up the top five is Henry Cavill‘s Man of Steel, which is estimated to rake in another $20.8 million for Warner Bros.

     
  • Chris Weitz to helm the film adaptation of his post apocalyptic novel, The Young World

    Chris Weitz to helm the film adaptation of his post apocalyptic novel, The Young World

    MUMBAI: The end of the world phenomenon has always worked well at the box office and it seems the evident reason why apocalyptic themes attract the movie makers the most. After Dreamworks Animation acquired the rights of Francesca Haig‘s The Fire Sermon, Warner Bros won the rights to the post-apocalyptic book trilogy, The Young World after a heated auction on Friday.

    Chris Weitz, the filmamaker (New Moon) turned author of the The Young World would also helm the director‘s chair for the big screen adaptation of his book. The novel is the first in a trilogy and centres on teenagers surviving the post apocalyptic and catastrophic event killing everyone but those between the ages of 12 and 21. Ill- equipped to restore the society back to a working one, the teenage survivors of New York City must try to rebuild their world from the ground up.

    Weitz‘s novel will be published in 2013 by Little Brown while the film adaptation will be produced by Andrew Miano and co- produced by Depth of Field.

    Weitz who has recently directed 2011‘s A Better Life, has previously directed the film adaptation of the novel The Golden Compass, a major international hit, and the film adaptation of New Moon from the series of Twilight books (the film grossed more than $700 million worldwide).

    Chantal Nong brought the project into the studio and will oversee with Lynn Harris. Weitz is represented by WME and attorney Alex Kohner of Morris Yorn Barnes & Levine.