MUMBAI: Paramount Pictures and the Mario Puzo estate have compromised on a legal war over a new Mario Puzo estate. The parties informed the court about a deal and stipulated to the dismissal of the litigation.
Though the terms of the agreement have not been disclosed, but it resolves both a claim and counterclaim that were lodged this year in the New York Federal Court.
In February, Paramount had filed a suit alleging that it had a copyright interest in Puzo‘s famed novel The Godfather, and an agreement that granted, "the sole and exclusive right to make and cause to be made literary and dramatic and other versions and adaptations of every kind and character."
The studio had alleged that prior "sequel novels" had tarnished the legacy over the Godfather franchise and that it was promised in writing that there would be no more literary sequels. It wanted confirmation to preclude the release of The Family Corleone, which was to detail Vito Corleone‘s rise to power in Depression-era New York.
In March, the Puzo estate led by attorney Bert Fields responded with its own counterclaims that alleged that Paramount‘s actions had meant it breached a 1967 rights agreement that purportedly expressly excluded and reserved "book publishing rights" for Puzo, who died in 1999.
As a result of the alleged breach, the Puzo estate sought to terminate Paramount‘s rights to The Godfather.
In May, the two sides came to an interim deal to allow The Family Corleone to come out. Money from the book was to be put aside in escrow until the parties reached a conclusion to the litigation.
Paramount scored a big win in the case in September when a federal judge in New York dismissed much of the counterclaims, finding the Puzo estate couldn‘t cancel the contract, nor can it make a rescission. The judge said that assuming Paramount had an obligation not to interfere with book publishing, the estate had failed to adequately establish this obligation goes to the "essence" of the 1969 agreement.
The judge allowed a breach of contract counterclaim to continue, and a trial could have clarified rights under deals made in the 1960s, but the two sides have now put the dispute to sleep.
Paramount was represented by Richard Kendall at Kendall Brill & Klieger.
Category: International
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Paramount and Mario Puzo estate come to terms
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Zac Efron signed to play stellar role in film inspired by JFK assasination
MUMBAI: Zac Efron who starred in Lee Daniels‘ thriller The Paperboy, is set to tackle another gritty role in Peter Landesman‘s Parkland that is inspired by the assassination of President John F Kennedy.
Details of the 25-year-old actor‘s role are still scarce, but he is set to star opposite a host of acclaimed actors including Oscar winners Marcia Gay Harden and Billy Bob Thornton and Oscar nominees Paul Giamatti and Jacki Weaver, it has been reported.
"Zac Efron continues to impress us with his recent shift into more dramatic roles which showcase his exceptional acting skills and Marcia Gay Harden is an unparalleled actress who gives tour de force performances in every film she appears.
"We look forward to seeing their combined talent in Peter Landesman‘s powerful and mesmerizing story alongside the excellent cast already attached to this film," said Exclusive‘s co-charimen Nigel Sinclair and Guy East.
Parkland is based on Vincent Buhliosi‘s epic book ‘Reclaiming History: The Assassination of President John F Kennedy‘. -
Disney acquires Lucasfilm Company
MUMBAI: The Walt Disney Company has announced an outlay of $4.05 billion for the purchase of the Lucasfilm Company, founded by director George Lucas and the creator of franchises like Star Wars and Indiana Jones.
Disney struck an agreement with Lucas, owner of 100 per cent of Lucasfilm, for the purchase of the company to be paid half in cash and the remainder with approximately 40 million Disney shares.
"It‘s now time for me to pass Star Wars on to a new generation of filmmakers," the 68-year-old Lucas has been reported to have said. "I‘ve always believed that ‘Star Wars‘ could live beyond me, and I thought it was important to set up the transition during my lifetime," he added.
Kathleen Kennedy, until now co-president of Lucasfilm, will function as the president of the firm within the Disney group.
"I‘m confident that with Lucasfilm under the leadership of Kathleen Kennedy, and having a new home within the Disney organization, ‘Star Wars‘ will certainly live on and flourish for many generations to come," Lucas hoped.
Disney President and CEO Robert A. Iger confirmed that the studio plans a new Star Wars trilogy that will begin in 2015 with Star Wars: Episode 7 and will continue with Episode 8 and Episode 9 as well.
The revered production house also revealed that it plans to create a new chapter in the famous galactic saga, Star Wars: Episode 7 that would release in 2015.
With the acquisition of Lucasfilm, Disney has added entities like television sports channel ESPN, ABC, the Pixar animation studio and Marvel Comics and other companies in its group. -
Zero Dark Thirty bags four Oscar nominations
MUMBAI: Kathryn Bigelow‘s ambitious film Zero Dark Thirty has bagged four prestigious nominations at the 70th Annual Golden Globe Awards. The film is the story of history‘s greatest manhunt for the world‘s most dangerous man.
These include Best Motion Picture – Drama, best performance by an actress in a motion picture (Drama) – Jessica Chastain, best director (Motion Picture) – Kathryn Bigelow and best screenplay (Motion Picture) – Mark Boal.
The film explores a relentless, decade-long pursuit that leads to the daring midnight raid of Osama bin Laden‘s compound, even as she unzips the body bag to verify that the bloody corpse inside is indeed that of the slain Al-Qaida leader, Jessica Chastain‘s CIA officer character is defined primarily by her femininity in this male-dominated world.
The film has bagged four prestigious nominations at the 70th Annual Golden Globe Awards. These include Best Motion Picture – Drama, Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture (Drama) – Jessica Chastain, Best Director (Motion Picture) – Kathryn Bigelow and Best Screenplay (Motion Picture) – Mark Boal.
Besides, the film has received many accolades and awards at prestigious award ceremonies including Washington D.C. Arena Film Critics Association, National Board of Review, New York Film Critics Circle and Boston Society Film Critics.
Directed by Oscar winning director Kathryn Bigelow; the film stars Jessica Chastain, Jason Clarke, Joel Edgerton, Chriss Pratt, James Gandolfini, Edgar Ramirez and Mark Strong.
PVR Pictures is gearing itself torelease Zero Dark Thirty in India on 1 February next year. -
Red chiffon dress of Titanic’s Rose fetches $330,000
MUMBAI: The red dress that Rose DeWitt Bukater (Kate Winslet) wore in Titanic has fetched $ 330,000 at a Hollywood auction.
The ‘Drama, Action, Romance – The Hollywood Auction‘ was witness to some contemporary memorabilia fetch eye-popping prices during the weekend, it is reported.
The exquisite red chiffon dress was designed by Deborah L Scott and took more than 1,000 hours to sew. This costume featured in one of the most memorable scenes of the film when Rose and Jack meet for the first time on the windswept deck of the Titanic.
It was originally sold by clothier J Peterman in 1998, the year after the hit film released.
Auctioneer Profiles in History described the dress was the only screen-used jump dress in private hands.
The top seller during the auction was the bow used by Legolas (Orlando Bloom) in the Lord of the Rings trilogy that sold for $ 372,000. The presale high estimate was $120,000. Orlando Bloom used the brown-painted composite plastic bow made in Weta‘s New Zealand workshop in all three films.
A screen-used X-Wing model from the first Star Wars movie in 1977 sold for $ 270,000 more than twice its high estimate of $ 120,000. -
Scorsese to direct HBO’s documentary on Bill Clinton
MUMBAI: Martin Scorsese will get up close and personal with Bill Clinton when he shoots a documentary on the former US president. The documentary, which has been approved by Clinton, promises to delve into the two-term Democrat‘s views on politics, history, culture and the world.
"A towering figure who remains a major voice in world issues, President Clinton continues to shape the political dialogue both here and around the world," said the filmmaker in a statement. Through intimate conversations, I hope to provide greater insight into this transcendent figure," he added.
Clinton, 66, who was first elected president in 1992, has been popular with the public since he left office in January 2001.
In July, pollsters Gallup measured Clinton‘s favorability rating at 66 per cent and found that he is popular among nearly all segments of the citizens of the US.
Right now, HBO is tightlipped as to when filming on the documentary would start or when the documentary would go on air.
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Sundance Institute selects 12 projects for feature film programme
MUMBAI: Sundance Institute has selected 12 projects for its 2013 January Screenwriters Lab, an immersive, five-day (11-16 January 2013) writers’ workshop at the Sundance Resort in Utah.
Participating independent screenwriters – drawn from around the world, including the US, Iran, Europe, Mexico, and Somalia – will have the opportunity to work intensely on their feature film scripts with the support of established writers.
The 2013 Lab is dedicated to the memory of Frank Pierson (1925-2012), a founding creative advisor of the Feature Film Programme whose body of work and generosity as a mentor served as an inspiration to countless writers.
Sundance Institute executive director Keri Putnam said, “Across all Sundance Institute Labs, which include offerings for various forms of artistic expression, the constant is creating an environment that encourages innovation and creative risk-taking. We look forward to building a unique community of artists at our Lab, in support of these emerging screenwriters and their stories.”
Sundance Institute Feature Film Programme founding director Michelle Satter said, “We are thrilled to welcome the new group of writers to the Lab whose stories are timely, ambitious and singular in their vision and independent voice. Exploring themes that resonate across cultures, the writers have found diverse and dynamic approaches to storytelling that will inspire and move audiences in the years to come.
The January Screenwriters Labs marks the beginning of a rigorous year-round process of creative and tactical support which is tailored to the needs of each individual project and extends from script development to connecting with audiences.”
The Fellows will work with a distinguished group of creative advisors at the Lab, including Marcos Bernstein, D.V. DeVincentis, Michael Goldenberg, Susannah Grant, Walter Mosley, Marti Noxon, Anjum Rajabali, Howard Rodman, David Seidler, Susan Shilliday, Zach Sklar, Dana Stevens, Robin Swicord, Mike White, Tyger Williams and Erin Cressida Wilson.
The projects and Fellows selected for the 2013 January Screenwriters Lab are:
700th and International (U.S.A.)
Chinaka Hodge (writer)
A trash-talking hood track phenomenon named Tuka dies by an unexpected bullet; she awakes to find herself in a corrupt version of heaven where everyone has a job—namely, to decide the exact moment of death for someone still living on earth.Chinaka Hodge is a poet, educator and playwright from Oakland, California. She received her BA from NYU’s Gallatin School and her MFA from USC’s School of Cinematic Arts. After nearly a decade of performing her own words around the globe and on two seasons of Def Poetry, she made the transition to the screen and received her first credit for Brave New Voices on HBO.
The Adderall Diaries (U.S.A.)
Pamela Romanowsky (writer/director)
While covering a real-life murder mystery, writer Stephen Elliott realizes he’d rather investigate his own dysfunctional relationships with women, his father and himself. Based on the memoir by Stephen Elliott.Born and raised in Minnesota, Pamela Romanowsky moved to New York to attend NYU’s Graduate Film Program. Her short film Gravity premiered at the Slamdance Film Festival and won the National Board of Review and the Wasserman/King Foundation’s student filmmaking awards. Her most recent directorial effort is TAR (James Franco, Mila Kunis, Jessica Chastain, Zach Braff), a multi-director omnibus based on the
life and poetry of CK Williams.Avalanche (Iran)
Morteza Farshbaf (co-writer/director) and Anahita Ghazvinizadeh (co-writer)
When a nurse takes the graveyard shift, a period of sleeplessness and solitude leaves her with a new perspective on her life.Morteza Farshbaf is an Iranian writer and filmmaker. He studied cinema at the Tehran University of Art, during which time he was a student of and assistant for Abbas Kiarostami. After making several short films, Farshbaf’s first feature Mourning won the New Currents Award and FIPRESCI Prize at the 2011 Busan International Film Festival.
Anahita Ghazvinizadeh is an Iranian writer and filmmaker. She studied cinema in Tehran and is continuing her education in film in the United States. She was also a student of Kiarostami, and has made short films in Iran and the US. She has collaborated with Farshbaf on several projects, including as a co-writer of Mourning.
Franny (U.S.A.)
Andrew Renzi (writer/director)
When the daughter and new husband of late family friends move back to Philadelphia, a larger-than-life but damaged man cannot control his desire to recreate the past. Andrew F.Renzi wrote and directed the short film The Fort, which premiered at the 2012 Sundance Film Festival. His newest short film, Karaoke!, will premiere at the 2013 Sundance Film Festival. Previously, Renzi worked with the New York production company Borderline Films on Antonio Campos’ Afterschool (Cannes 2008) and Alistair Banks Griffin’s Two Gates of Sleep (Cannes 2010).
The Incident (U.S.A)
Jan Kwiecinski (writer/director)
When a young man decides to cover up an accidental murder, his whole life comes into focus in ways he never expected. Jan Kwiecinski graduated from the filmmaking departments of the London Film School and the Wajda’s Master School of Directing. His award-winning short film, The Incident, screened internationally at many festivals including the Shanghai International Film Festival and the T-Mobile New Horizons Film Festival. Recently, Kwiecinski directed the segment entitled Fawns of the omnibus feature The Fourth Dimension, co-directed by Alexey Fedorchenko and Harmony Korine. The film premiered in the Narrative Competition at the 2012 San Francisco Film Festival.Let the Northern Lights Erase Your Name (U.K. / Germany / U.S.A.)
Eva Weber (co-writer/director) and Vendela Vida (co-writer)
Twenty-eight-year-old Clarissa discovers on the day of her father’s funeral that everything she believed about her life was a lie. She flees New York and travels to the Arctic Circle to uncover the secrets of her mother who mysteriously vanished when Clarissa was fourteen.Originally from Germany, Eva Weber is a London-based filmmaker working in both documentary and fiction. Her award-winning films have screened at numerous international film festivals, including Sundance, Edinburgh, SXSW, BFI London, and Telluride; and have also been broadcast on UK and international television. Her documentary short film The Solitary Life of Cranes was selected as one of the top five films of the year by critic Nick Bradshaw in Sight & Sound’s annual film review in 2008.
Vendela Vida is the author of four books, including the novels Let the Northern Lights Erase Your Name and The Lovers. She is a founding co-editor of the Believer magazine and co-writer of the film Away We Go, which was directed by Sam Mendes.
Love After Love (U.S.A.)
Russell Harbaugh (writer/director)
Taking place over the course of several years, Love After Love is a messy, autobiographical love story about grief, sex and the separation of a family.Russell Harbaugh’s short film Rolling on the Floor Laughing played the 2012 Sundance Film Festival and many other festivals around the world including the FSLC/MoMA co-curated New Directors/New Films, Maryland Film Festival, Sarasota International Film Festival, Milano, Warsaw, and others. Previously, Harbaugh was the assistant to Eric Mendelsohn on the film 3 Backyards, which earned the Best Director award at the 2010 Sundance Film Festival. Harbaugh received his MFA from Columbia University in 2011 and is originally from Evansville, Indiana. He lives in New York.
Maanokoobiyo (Somalia/U.S.A.)
K’naan (writer/director)
In war-torn Somalia, an artistic orphan named Maano joins the mercenary killing squad of a notorious warlord, only to discover his adoptive father and gang leader is responsible for wiping out his family.K’naan is a Somali poet, rapper and singer, songwriter. He spent his childhood in Mogadishu, Somalia and was on one of the last commercial flights out of the country before its collapse. He rose to prominence with the success of his song “Wavin’ Flag” after it was chosen as the anthem of the 2010 FIFA World Cup. He lives in New York.
Mercy Road (U.S.A.)
Ian Hendrie (co-writer/co-director) and Jyson McLean (co-writer/co-director)
Based on true events, Mercy Road traces the political and spiritual odyssey of a small town housewife as she turns from peaceful pro-life activist to underground militant willing to commit violence and murder in the name of God.Ian Hendrie is a San Francisco-based director, screenwriter, producer. He is also the co-founder of Fantoma Films, a production company and independent DVD label which has been releasing premium edition DVDs of films by such famed auteurs as Francis Ford Coppola, Rainer Werner Fassbinder, Samuel Fuller, Fritz Lang, Kenneth Anger and Alex Cox, among others, since 1999. Along with Jyson McLean, Hendrie was the recipient of the Fall 2011 San Francisco Film Society/Kenneth Rainin Foundation Grant for Screenwriting for Mercy Road.
Jyson McLean began making short films in high school. He attended Art Center College of Design in Pasadena and shortly thereafter began directing commercials and music videos, which have aired nationally and overseas. His commercial credits include spots for Bud Light, Career Builder and Quaker Oats. He has won the Gold ITVA PEER award three years in a row, and has worked with numerous award-winning advertising agencies including DDB Los Angeles, BBDO London and Fred & Farid, Paris.
State Like Sleep (U.S.A.)
Meredith Danluck (writer/director)
Under the surreal cloud cover of northern Europe, a young American widow reluctantly revisits her past when her mother is hospitalized in Brussels. While coping with the bleak reality of parental loss, Katherine explores her deceased husband’s secret life of underground sex clubs and finds comfort in a relationship with a stranger as equally broken as she is.Meredith Danluck is an artist and filmmaker. Her work has screened at major art institutions internationally including MoMA, PS1, Venice Biennale, Liverpool Biennial, and Reina Sofia, as well as various film festivals including SXSW, TIFF, Doc NYC, Margaret Mead and Hamburg International. This year, as part of the New Frontier exhibition at the Sundance Film Festival, she will be showing her four-screen film installation North of South, West of East.
Zeus (Mexico)
Miguel Calderón (writer/director)
Sporadically employed and still living with his mother, Joel finds his only joy in falconry in the flatlands outside Mexico City, until an encounter with a down-to-earth secretary forces him to face reality. Miguel Calderón is a visual artist working in various mediums, notably photography, video and writing. His exhibitions have been included at the Sao Paolo Biennial, Museo Tamayo, Yokohama Triennial, Centro de Arte Reina Sofia and Jumex Collection. He lives in Mexico City.Alfred P. Sloan Fellowship Given to a project that explores science and technology themes and characters.
Prodigal Summer (U.S.A.)
Nicole Kassell (co-writer/director) and Barbara Kingsolver (co-writer)
Prodigal Summer, based on the best selling novel by Barbara Kingsolver, weaves together three utterly unexpected love stories through the course of one summer in southern Appalachia. In this extravagant ode to the natural orders of biology and the human spirit, the forces of life, death and procreation connect every life that inhabits the lush landscape.Nicole Kassell is an MFA graduate of NYU’s Film Program. Her first feature, The Woodsman, premiered in competition at the 2004 Sundance Film Festival and went on to receive numerous accolades including nominations for the Gotham Award for Breakthrough Director and Best First Feature at the Independent Spirit Awards. Kassell has continued to write and direct film and episodic television. She lives in New York City with her husband and two children.
Barbara Kingsolver is the author of 14 books of fiction and nonfiction including the current bestseller Flight Behavior. Translated into more than 20 languages, her books have earned a devoted readership and numerous awards including the National Humanities Medal. She lives with her family on a farm in southern Appalachia.
The Sundance Institute Feature Film Program 2013 January Screenwriters Lab is made possible by generous support from The Annenberg Foundation, Cinereach, Mumbai Mantra Media, LTD., National Endowment for the Arts, the Doris Duke Foundation for Islamic Art, the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, B.Co, RT Features, Sheila Johnson, Indian Paintbrush Productions, Time Warner Foundation, NHK Enterprises 21, Inc., SAGIndie, The James Irvine Foundation, Hollywood Foreign Press Association, The Creators Project, a partnership between Intel and VICE, the Ray and Dagmar Dolby Family Fund, Sundial Pictures, LLC, and the Zygmunt & Audrey Wilf Foundation.
Ten films supported by the Feature Film Programme will have their world premieres at the 2013 Sundance Film Festival. The US Dramatic Competition will feature: ‘Ain’t Them Bodies Saints‘, written and directed by David Lowery; Fruitvale, written and directed by Ryan Coogler; ‘May in the Summer‘, written and directed by Cherien Dabis; ‘Mother of George‘, written by Darci Picoult and directed by Andrew Dosunmu; and ‘Concussion‘, written and directed by Stacie Passon.
The Next section will include: ‘Blue Caprice‘, written and directed by Alexandre Moors; ‘It Felt Like Love‘, written and directed by Eliza Hittman; ‘A Teacher‘, written and directed by Hannah Fidell; and ‘This is Martin Bonner‘, written and directed by Chad Hartigan. In addition, Rama Burshtein’s ‘Fill the Void‘ will screen in the Festival’s Spotlight section, and the New Frontier exhibition will include the E.m-bed.de/d, Datamosh, Augmented Real installation, which artist Yung Jake developed in part at the New Frontier Story Lab.
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‘The Hobbit’ scores record $84.8 million in opening weekend
MUMBAI: New Line and MGM‘s ‘The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey‘ started the holiday season with an opening of $84.8 million thus becoming the top three-day opener of all time for the month of December. In North America, Will Smith‘s ‘I Am Legend‘ previously held the record for best December opening with $77.2 million on the same weekend in 2007.
Hobbit opened to $138.2 million overseas for a worldwide total of $223 million racing ahead of The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King in 2003 ($125.9 million).
Trade pundits estimate that Warner Bros‘ New Line which is distributing the 3D fantasy adventure, could earn as much as four times its opening weekend gross through New Year‘s Day (Christmas films can have especially strong multiples).
Hobbit is based on J. R. R. Tolkien‘s 1937 novel and is set 60 years before the events chronicled in The Lord of the Rings. -
Jack Reacher mktg altered in view of school shooting
MUMBAI: Film Studio Paramount has decided to make changes in the marketing materials for Jack Reacher, the gritty crime-action, Tom Cruise starrer based on Lee Child‘s character by the same name. Cruise plays a hard-boiled former military cop trying to prove that an alleged sniper was framed in the film that opens Friday.
Though the studio hasn‘t officially said what the changes are, but buzz is that a scene of Cruise‘s character firing off a semi-automatic weapon is being cut from promotional spots. The reason behind this move is the recent shootings at Sandy Hook Elementary School which left 20 children between five to 11 years dead and many others scarred for life.
Apart from Cruise‘s Jack Reacher Leonardo DiCaprio starrer Django Unchained directed by Quentin Tarantino is slated to open on 25 December. The R-rated Django stars Jamie Foxx as a slave promised his freedom if he helps a bounty hunter (Christoph Waltz ) track down a plantation owner (Leonardo DiCaprio). On 17 December The Weinstein Co.
Announced it was cancelling Tuesday night‘s Django premiere in Los Angeles because of the school tragedy but it would still hold a screening for cast and crew.
"Our thoughts and prayers go out to the families of the tragedy in Newtown, Conn., and in this time of national mourning we have decided to forgo our scheduled event," the company said in a statement.
At a junket for Django on Saturday in New York, Tarantino said he is weary of defending the violence in his movies. "I just think there‘s violence in the world. Tragedies happen," the filmmaker said. "[Django} is a Western. Give me a break."
Foxx, however, said Hollywood can‘t "ignore" that violence in movies has an impact. And this summer, Harvey Weinstein, an advocate for gun control, called for a summit on violence in films after the Aurora theater shooting during a midnight screening of The Dark Knight Rises. -
Oscar nominations voting opens today to 5,856 Academy Voters
MUMBAI: Nominations voting for the 85th Academy Awards open Monday for the 5,856 voting members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Members will have until 3 January, 2013 to vote electronically or mail in a paper ballot.
Any paper ballots received after the deadline will not be counted.
Nominations and final Awards ballots will be tabulated and verified by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) to ensure that all aspects of the balloting process are accurate and secure.
This will be the first year the Academy is providing its membership the opportunity to vote electronically. Several voting resources will be available to members, including assisted voting stations in Los Angeles, New York and London, and a 24-hour support call center during voting periods.
The 85th Academy Awards nominations will be announced live on 10 January, 2013 in the Academy‘s Samuel Goldwyn Theater.
Academy Awards for outstanding film achievements of 2012 will be presented on 25 February, 2013, at the Dolby Theatre™ at Hollywood & Highland Center® and televised live on Star Movies. The Oscar presentation also will be televised live in more than 225 countries worldwide.