MUMBAI: As the legendary DC Comics superhero Superman returns to the big screen, Warner Bros Consumer Products has teamed up with a slate of global licensees for a broad, multi-category licensing program to support ‘Man of Steel‘.
In anticipation of ‘Man of Steel‘, global master toy licensee Mattel unveiled its toy line, including action figures, vehicles, playsets and collectible figures, highlighted by the Movie Masters line, which aims to capture the superior accuracy and details of the film‘s characters. Mattel will also introduce ‘Man of Steel‘ QuickShots, a new way to play with Superman, incorporating elements of flight and strength into the toy.
Also supporting ‘Man of Steel‘ are global licensees such as Lego, with construction sets inspired by memorable scenes from the film; and Rubie‘s Costume with a new line of ‘Man of Steel‘-inspired costumes and accessories for both kid and adult fans.
Warner Bros Consumer Products president Brad Globe said, "With a Super Hero as iconic and beloved as Superman, it is no surprise that fans worldwide are excited for Zack Snyder‘s new vision of this classic story. We are thrilled to be a part of the phenomenon as we work closely with our licensees to offer fans a variety of products that bring ‘Man of Steel‘ to the world beyond the big screen."
Additional toys, games, and collectibles partners bringing the ‘Man of Steel‘ products to life include Thinkway Toys, with a full role-play line, interactive figure and other toys; Jakks Pacific, with a 31-inch collectible Superman figure; and Cardinal Industries, with games and puzzles; among many other licensees.
There will also be statues from sideshow collectibles; authentic prop replicas from The Noble Collection; an 18-inch articulated figure from NECA; fun, stylised plush and vinyl figures from Funko; and high-end creations from Kotobukiya and SquareEnix.
The roster of licensees includes categories like apparel, accessories, stationery and publishing. Perennial partner Bioworld brings a line of ‘Man of Steel‘- inspired apparel and accessories, utilising a number of graphics and icons; high-end t-shirt label Kinetix offers statement S-Shield t-shirts; New Era Cap Company with a range of hats; and Under Armour with high-end sportswear. Publishers include Insight Editions, with an official ‘Man of Steel‘ guide and a behind-the-scenes look at the film; Titan Books, with the film‘s official novelisation; and HarperCollins, with a range of children‘s books based on ‘Man of Steel‘. Additional licensees include Mead Westvaco, Hallmark, Bakery Crafts, and many more.
Around the world licensees have started to celebrate the debut of ‘Man of Steel‘ with offerings in their local markets. Throughout the Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) region, partners supporting ‘Man of Steel‘ include TV Mania, FCUK, Prenatal, Aquarapid, Leomil and others, with fun designs in apparel and accessories. D‘Arp?je and Maverix offer outdoor fun with ‘Man of Steel‘ outdoor products; while Pyramid, Proburo, and Cartorama bring the fun indoors, with themed back-to-school and paper products.
In Asia and Australia, fans can listen in style with Gavio‘s ‘Man of Steel‘ digital lifestyle collection, or collect their favorite scent with the Heat Group‘s ‘Man of Steel‘ eau du toilette, among other fun products. In Latin America, apparel from Aurimoda and Distribuidora de Textiles Avante is sure to delight, and kids can‘t wait to get back-to-school with fun items from Targmex.
Category: International
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Warner Bros Consumer Products launches global licensing programme for ‘Man of Steel’
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Disney’s blockbuster line-up for 2013-14 is all set to soar sky-high
MUMBAI: The year 2013 is raking in the ‘moolah‘ for the Walt Disney group with its Indian arm, UTV Disney amassing nearly 48 per cent of the entire box office collections of all the 39 films released by various studios in India so far.
Disney‘s worldwide footprint, having acquired major core brands like Marvel and ESPN, is all geared up with blockbuster releases in Hollywood in the coming few years.
The studio is now organising its live action movies, having sorted its animation slate. Six movies, including two of the Stan Lee comic franchise ‘Marvel Studios‘ has been given new dates. It is reported that these two Marvel movies would be slated for a May release (May 6, 2016; May 5 2017), as it has become the franchises‘ trademark month of release.
Amongst the list of movies slated, includes, Savings Mr. Banks which hits the theatres in mid December 2013, starring Tom Hanks and Emma Thompson as the leading pair, portraying Sir Walt Disney and Mary Poppins.
Following this would be Muppet Most Wanted, a sequel to 2011‘s The Muppets. The Ricky Gervais, Ty Burrell and Tine Fey movie will go on floors by 21 March 2014.
While its animated movie, Planes is all set to go on the floors on 9 August this year, its sequel Planes: Fire and Rescue is already into production with its 3D release scheduled for 18 July 2014.
Disney in collaboration with Dream Works has also planned The Hundred-Foot Journey, for an early August release in 2014. Steven Spielberg would be co-producing the big screen adaption of the international best-selling book by Rishard C. Morais along with Oprah Winfrey and Juliet Blake.
The following October 2014 has been booked for the big screen adaption of the award winning children‘s book Judith Viorst. The movie starring Steve Carell and Jennifer Garner is titled Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day.
The Brad Pitt directed Tomorrow Land staring veteran star George Clooney, HughLaurie, Raffey Cassidy and Thomas Robinson shall be hitting the theatres on 12 December 2014 and produced by Bird and Damon Lindelof.The final movie for 2014 and slated for a Christmas release, Into the Woods, would see Rob Marshall directing the epic based on the Tony-winning original musical by James Lapine and Stephen Sondheim. It centers on a baker and his wife‘s quest to break a witch‘s curse in order to start a family. Along the way, they encounter several well-known fairy tale characters, and together they learn what happens after “happily ever after”.
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Tom Tykwer to adapt Dave Eggers ‘A Hologram for the King’ with Tom Hanks
MUMBAI: Cast Away veteran star Tom Hanks is teaming up with Tom Tykwer in a film adaption of the Dave Eggers novel A Hologram for the King. Hanks will reportedly star in it with Run Lola Run director Tykwer at the helm. Tykwer has also recently worked with Hanks wherein the former co-directed Cloud Atlas starring Hanks and Hally Berry in the lead.
The Dave Eggers‘ novel, A Hologram for the King was published last year by McSweeney‘s and became a National Book Award finalist.
The story revolves around a struggling businessman who, after failing in America, heads to a rising Saudi Arabian city for a last ditch attempt to stave off foreclosure, pay his daughter‘s college tuition, and do something memorable.
The film will be financially backed by X Filme Creative Pool producers Stefan Arndt, Uwe Schott and Tykwer, who are also teamed with Playtone partners Hanks and Gary Goetzman. While the financing has not yet been put together, CAA, which represents Hanks, Eggers and Tykwer, is under the process of arranging the finance.
Hanks and Tyker‘s previous collaboration Cloud Atlas saw Hanks taking over several roles. Hanks who is all set to fawn the audiences this October with his Paul Greengrass directed Captain Phillips wherein he plays the title role. The movie is slated to hit the theatres on October 11.
Following this, Hanks would also be seen stepping into the shoes of the legendary Walt Disney character in the John Lee Hancock directed Saving Mr. Banks which is set to go on floors in the middle of the Oscar season on December 20.
Hanks currently is starring on Broadway, playing an ace crime reporter Mike McAlary in the Nora Ephron play called Lucky Guy.
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Indonesian film wins NETPAC award at Rotterdam
NEW DELHI: Indonesian drama What They Don‘t Talk About
When They Talk About Love has won the NETPAC prize for Asia pacific films at the International Film Festival in Rotterdam.The award was instituted by the Network for Promotion of Asian Cinema and is presented in just a handful of film festivals around the world for Asia Pacific films.
The film, about the characters in a Jakarta school for the visually impaired, is the second feature by Mouly Surya who previously directed thriller Fiksi in 2008.
The film had previously received financial support from Rotterdam‘s Hubert Bals Fund. It had its premiere at the Sundance Film Festival and its European premiere in Rotterdam.
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Michael Bay to helm Ubisoft’s ‘Ghost Recon’ with Warner Bros
MUMBAI: Transformers director Michael Bay is all geared up for his next covert venture with the French Game developer Ubisoft. Bay will reportedly helm the movie adaption of Tom Clancy‘s Ghost Recon into a potential film franchise at Warner Bros.
The film adaption would be Bay‘s maiden association with Warner Bros after previously producing and helming films primarily with Disney, Sony, DreamWorks and Paramount.Ghost Recon revolves around a fictional unit of the US Army Special Forces that essentially operates as the president‘s private force, using the latest technology to infiltrate and take down threats around the world without leaving any traces behind that they exist.
Adding to the gaming plot of game, Ubisoft Motion Pictures CEO Jean Julien Baronnet, commented, "These guys don‘t belong to any specific organisation. They‘re in the field where the US troops are not supposed to be. It‘s a small team with very strong personalities and very specific skill sets. They‘re using weapons nobody knows about but it‘s grounded. It‘s not sci-fi, and Ubisoft wanted to work with Bay because he is a master at action movies."
Micheal Bay is currently directing the fourth installment in the million dollar Transformers series with Paramount studios. Bay‘s take on Ghost Recon will be the third high-profile adaptation of the games that Ubisoft has set up within the past year, with New Regency co-producing both Assassin‘s Creed and Splinter Cell. Twentieth Century Fox has already set Memorial Day 2015 as the release date for Assassin‘s Creed, which will star Michael Fassbender in the lead, and The Dark Knight Rises star Tom Hardy in Splinter Cell.
With these game adaptations planning to flood the Box Office soon, Ubisoft is playing it safe by not just licensing the films rights to Hollywood, but also taking more control in how the games shall be adapted, while not compromising on the game‘s DNA but all the same retelling a brand new story not based on what gamers have already played.
Going ahead with the project Ubisoft is in the process of hiring screenwriters to tackle Ghost Recon while also planning to attach more talent by July. Ghost Recon, the game which was launched in 2001, has sold over 24 million games under nine titles, four expansion packs and a Facebook game too. Its latest version called Ghost Recon: Future Soldier released successfully in 2012.
Giving its audiences the taste of the game‘s big screen thunder Ubisoft already has produced a live action short film for the franchise, Ghost Recon Alpha directed by Francois Alaux and Herve de Crecy and produced by Ridley Scott. -
MTV US, Sony Pictures Entertainment join forces for the Film ‘This Is the End’
MUMBAI: MTV US Real World: Portlandshow has partnered with Hollywood studio Sony Pictures Entertainment to create a mini-episode to promote the film This Is The End, which hits theaters across the US on 12 June 2013. The film‘s stars Seth Rogen, Danny McBride, James Franco, Craig Robinson, and Jay Baruchel star in the short-form episodic titled, The Real World: This is the End Edition, which will air in a four-part story arc on MTV during the Real World: Portland finale and reunion on 12 June.
An uncensored and extended webisode is currently available on ThisIsTheEnd.MTV.com. Viacom Media Networks executive VP integrated marketing Dario Spina said, "MTV‘s Studio Integrated Marketing and Production team continues to deliver entertaining and truly custom, co-branded content for our partners; and our collaboration with Sony Pictures Entertainment demonstrates that capability by seamlessly uniting the hilarious This is the End cast, within the themes characterised in MTV‘s longest running franchise, The Real World."This creative and comedic content is not only entertaining, but travels across many platforms to connect with audiences where they are."
In support of the film‘s opening week, The Real World: This is the End Edition‘ campaign will air spots on MTV and MTV.com supported by social promotion across MTV‘s Facebook, MTV‘s Twitter, and MTV‘s Tumblr.
Inspired by the film‘s End of the world theme, the cast will face off in a real world setting with Averey-Lee Jane and Joi Niemeyer from the Real World: Portland cast. The Real World: Portland takes place in a city known for expressing individuality and the roommate‘s bring their own unique personalities into the house.
Similarly the This Is The End actors "stop being polite and start getting real," exposing all their quirky behaviours under one roof – paying homage to moments and surprises that people have come to expect from the MTV franchise.
This Is The End follows six friends trapped in a house after a series of strange and catastrophic events devastate Los Angeles. As the world unravels outside, dwindling supplies and cabin fever threaten to tear apart the friendships inside. Eventually, they are forced to leave the house, facing their fate and the true meaning of friendship and redemption. -
White House Down to be released in India in English, Hindi and Tamil
NEW DELHI: White House Down, being distributed by Sony Pictures Entertainment, is slated for release in India in English, Hindi and Tamil.
Directed by Roland Emmerich (Independence Day, Godzilla, The Day After Tomorrow, 2012) the film will be released on 19 July in the country.
The action thriller stars Channing Tatum, Jamie Foxx, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Jason Clarke, Richard Jenkins and James Woods
In Columbia Pictures‘ White House Down, capitol policeman John Cale (Channing Tatum) has just been denied his dream job with the secret service of protecting President James Sawyer (Jamie Foxx). Not wanting to let down his little girl with the news, he takes her on a tour of the White House, when the complex is overtaken by a heavily armed paramilitary group. Now, with the nation‘s government falling into chaos and time running out, it is up to Cale to save the president, his daughter, and the country.A spokesperson for Sony Pictures Entertainment said this release will followed by The Smurfs 2 (3D) on 2 August and Elysium on 23 August.
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Jon M. Chu to don the director’s chair for the action packed GI Joe 3
MUMBAI: The trend of sequels seems to have taken over Hollwood, with Zack Synder already in talks of a Man of Steel sequel, and Jason Blum planning another installment for his recent BO shocker The Purge, it is Paramount and MGM‘s turn to make a deal with Jon M. Chu to helm another installment of G.I. Joe.
The high octane franchise that started with 2009‘s G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra, saw a makeover done by Chu in 2013‘s G.I Joe Retaliation starring Dwayne Johnson and Bruce Willis in the lead. The movie was refashioned entirely, with Paramount Studios having pulled the film from its 2012 release to make it 3D and do some creative visual enhancements.
The studio‘s effort was paid off well with G.I Joe Retaliation raking in $ 365 million worldwide. The studio has also played a similar gamble with its latest upcoming Brad Pitt starrer World War Z, which has begun to generate a positive buzz following its zombie driven trailers, although the movie was prematurely written off because of its production issues initially. -
Visionary Steve Jobs biopic postponed to August 16
MUMBAI: The highly anticipated biopic JOBS starring Aston Kutcher as the visionary entrepreneur of Apple will hit the theatres on August 16. The biopic which was slated for an April release, and had also closed the American Film Festival Sundance, has been postponed. Five Star Films which had made a service deal with the distributors Open Road before the Sundance festival were highly eager to release in April marking the 37th anniversary of Jobs founded Apple.
However on account of insufficient time to prepare for a proper release and create the much needed hype and buzz over the biopic the film‘s backers thought it savvy to postpone the release to mid August.
The movie directed by Joshua Michael Stern and written by Matthew Whiteley will chronicle the story of Steve Jobs‘ ascension from a college dropout to achieving the status of being one of the most creative entrepreneurs of the 20th Century.
Revealing more about the storyline, JOBS will detail the major events and characters that had an influence over Steve Jobs from 1971 to 2001. Plunging deeper into the character, it is anticipated to create an intense dialogue driven story portraying the epic personal portrait of Steve Jobs‘ life.
The biopic has being visually treated by the Oscar winning cinematographer Russell Carpenter and produced by Mark Hulme.
JOBS stars Ashton Kutcher, Dermot Mulroney, Josh Gad, Lukas Haas, J.K. Simmons and Matthew Modine. -
Stephen Frears gets Lifetime Achievement Award at Transylvania 2013
NEW DELHI: Internationally acclaimed British director Stephen Frears has been presented the Lifetime Achievement Award during the 12th edition of Transylvania International Film Festival which concluded over the weekend.
An Oscar and BAFTA nominee for films such as My Beautiful Laundrette, Dangerous Liaisons and The Queen, Frears was presented at the Cluj National Theatre.
Czech filmmaker Jirí Menzel was also honoured with A Lifetime Achievement Award.
Stephen Frears was born in 1941 in Leicester and studied law at Cambridge. In 1964, Frears joined the Royal Court Theatre and his first job in cinema was that of assistant director on the film Morgan – A Suitable Case for Treatment (directed by Karel Reisz, 1966). For a couple of years, he continued working as a director of TV productions and commercials.
Frears made his feature film debut in 1971 with Gumshoe, starring Albert Finney as a Liverpool bingo caller who dreams of a private eye, but he achieved his career breakthrough in 1985 with My Beautiful Laundrette. Scripted by Hanif Kureishi and starring Daniel-Day Lewis, the film was nominated for an Oscar and two BAFTAs. Both films will be screened during Transilvania IFF in the 3X3 section, alongside Prick Up Your Ears(1987), a biopic of playwright Joe Orton, starring Gary Oldman and Alfred Molina.
Frears made his Hollywood debut with Dangerous Liaisons (1988), starring Glenn Close, John Malkovich and Michelle Pfeiffer. The film was nominated for seven Academy Awards, winning for Best Screenplay, best Costumes and Best Art Direction, and for 10 BAFTAs. It was followed by the critically acclaimed The Grifters (1990), produced by Martin Scorsese and nominated for an Academy Award in the Best Director category.
Frears continued his Hollywood career alternating personal and big budget projects. Thus, he directed the Silver Bear awarded western The Hi-Lo Country (1998), starring Woody Harrelson, Billy Crudup, Penélope Cruz and Patricia Arquette, Liam (2000), the famed High Fidelity (2000), starring John Cusack, Dirty Pretty Things (2002), a drama about illegal emigrants in London, the BAFTA nominated The Deal (2003), a political TV drama about Tony Blair and Mr. Henderson Presents (2005).
His recent biggest success was The Queen (2006), about the aftermath of Princess Diana‘s death, a multi-awarded film nominated for six Oscars and 10 BAFTAs. Altogether, the film brought its protagonist, Helen Mirren, about 30 awards, including the Oscar, BAFTA and the Golden Globe. In 2010, Frears‘ comedy, Tamara Drewe, was selected at Cannes. The film was followed, in 2012, by Lay the Favorite, starring Bruce Willis and Rebeca Hall.
In 2007, Stephen Frears was the President of the Cannes jury which awarded the Golden Palm to Cristian Mungiu‘s 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days. At present, Frears is preparing for Philomena, a film starring Judi Dench and Steve Coogan.