ITV

Category: International

  • Allen wanted Princess Diana for a role

    Allen wanted Princess Diana for a role

    MUMBAI: Filmmaker Woody Allen has revealed that he wanted to cast Princess Diana in one of his films.
    While talking to the media, Allen did not divulge the name of the film but said that he had wanted to cast the Princess in a small role that required a classy woman. He asserted that the role would have been within her capacity to handle, and she was the name that came into consideration when they were discussing about the role.
    The actor-director also said that he would like to cast Lindsay in a film, as he felt that she is a very talented girl. Rubbishing earlier rumours of him and the actress working in a film together, Allen said that they had no such plans as of now.
    The 78-year-old Allen has worked with many of the A-listers in Hollywood.

  • Charlie Sheen to play US prez

    Charlie Sheen to play US prez

    MUMBAI: Charlie Sheen is in talks to play the US president in Machete Kills, the sequel of Machete.
    Announcing the same on Twitter, director Rodriguez wrote, ” I just cast Charlie Sheen in #machetekills as the President of the United States! Who better? More soon…” . On his part, Sheen re-tweeted the message and is now heard that one of his representative has said that negotiations are taking place.
    Rodriguez is currently in production of the film, which will again star Danny Trejo as Machete, Jessica Alba, Mel Gibson, Amber Heard, Sofia Vergara and Zoe Saldana.
    The new story sees Machete being called upon by the US government to stop a cartel leader and an arms dealer who have a weapon in space. The broadly-written part initially called for the president to be African-American and have a basketball court on the White House lawn but has since been rewritten.

  • The Dark Night rises might overtake The Avengers

    The Dark Night rises might overtake The Avengers

    MUMBAI: Gauging the pre-booking sales of Christopher Nolan‘s The Dark Night Rises, it looks like the film will take over The Avengers as the highest grossing action hero film of all time.

    It has been reported that the tickets are being sold for $100 mostly, with an exception of the screening at Manhattan‘s Lincoln Square Theater selling them for $114. The tickets went on sale last week and the opening night was promptly sold out.

    The Avengers had an amazing success rate at the box office when it released worldwide on 11 April and went on to earn $1.42 billion globally.

    The film stars Christian Bale, Gary Oldman, Anne Hathaway, and Michael Caine in prominent roles.

    The Dark Knight Rises is to hit the screens on 20 July.

  • Stan Lee to create Chinese super hero

    Stan Lee to create Chinese super hero

    MUMBAI: Iron Man creator Stan Lee is now on course to create a Chinese super hero in his new film The Annihilator in cooperation with Chinese filmmakers.
     
    The film will tell the story of a Chinese superhero‘s battle to save the world. “I believe the Chinese superhero will be the best and the most popular superhero loved by people all over the world,” Lee has been quoted to have said.
     
    “I love China and Chinese culture. I have been looking for the chance to cooperate with Chinese movie makers and bring forward Chinese culture to the world,” he added.
     
    Hollywood writer Dan Gilroy, of Real Steel and The Bourne Legacy fame, is also involved in the project.

  • Forbes names Kristen Stewart as highest-paid actress

    Forbes names Kristen Stewart as highest-paid actress

    MUMBAI: Among the current actresses of Hollywood, Kristen Stewart has been named Hollywood‘s highest-paid actress in Forbes magazine‘s annual list earning as much as $34.5 million last year. She narrowly beat Cameron Diaz who earned $34 million.
    Kristen‘s earnings came from her $12.5 million salary plus profit share for both instalments of The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Parts I and II, and also her role in Snow White and the Huntsman. On the other hand, Cameron‘s earnings came from her salaries for Bad Teacher, The Green Hornet and What to Expect When You‘re Expecting, it is learnt.

    Sandra Bullock was placed third in the list for the $25 million she earned for her upcoming film Gravity as well as the profits she is still making from 2009 film The Blind Side.
    Angelina Jolie follows at number four with $20 million and Charlize Theron with $18 million is at the fifth slot.

  • Warner Bros to release Cloud Atlas on 26 October

    Warner Bros to release Cloud Atlas on 26 October

    MUMBAI: Warner Bros. Pictures will release Cloud Atlas, the star-studded adaptation of David Mitchell‘s novel on 26 October.
    Talking on the film‘s release Warner Bros co-distribution chief Dan Fellman said, “Audiences who have seen an early screening of Cloud Atlas have been elated by its powerful and inspiring story, as well as its breathtaking visuals.”
    Bioth Fellman, Warhner Bros. president of domestic distribution and Veronika Kwan Vandenberg, president of international distribution disclosed that the studio has acquired rights to distribute the film the UK, France, Spain, Australia and Japan where it will be released early next year.

    The film, that stars Tom Hanks, Halle Berry, Susan Sarandon, Keith David, Jim Broadbent, Hugo Weaving, Jim Sturgess, Doona Bae, Ben Whishaw, James D‘Arcy and Zhou Xun, got a positive reception when it was shown to foreign buyers at the recent Cannes Film Festival.
    Atlas will be released in Germany, Austria and German-speaking Switzerland by X-Filme-Verleih; in China by Dreams of the Dragon Pictures; in Hong Kong by Media Asia Group; in Singapore and Malaysia by Ascension Pictures; in Korea by Bloomage Co.; in Taiwan by Long Shong Group; in Russia and Eastern Europe by A Company; and in other territories through Focus Features International.

  • 14 films to get Screen Australia funding

    14 films to get Screen Australia funding

    MUMBAI: Fourteen multi-platform projects have planned to support Screen Australia, the Australian screen funding body.

    Among the projects is an application (app) based on ABC kids show DirtGirlWorld as well as a film noir motion comic, interactive documentary and augmented reality app. Between the two programs, 89 applications were received with 27 applications for multi-platform production and 62 for digital ignition.

    The funds support digital and small screen narrative content in both linear and non linear forms. The projects, supported through the Digital Ignition funds and Multi-platform Production, was formerly titled All Media Production.
    In a statement, Screen Australia‘s chief executive Ruth Harley said, “We‘re thrilled with the volume and quality of applications we received as awareness grows of our support for content creators to capitalise on the fast-moving digital landscape.”

    “We have both new talent and established players collaborating and telling stories through interactive documentary, games, web series, apps and multi-platform television.”

    Of the 14 titles, nine come from the Digital Ignition fund while the five others are from the Multi-platform Production.

  • Alps wins top prize at Sydney fest

    Alps wins top prize at Sydney fest

    MUMBAI: A Greek drama Alps has won Sydney Film Festival (SFF)‘s top award. It beat out eleven other films including two Australian productions Dead Europe and Lore. The film, directed by Yorgos Lanthimos won the SFF Official Competition prize, worth $60,000.

    The film is said to be about a director‘s method for dealing with a relationship break-up. It won him the best Australian documentary award.

    Said festival‘s jury Rachel Ward, “Following a secret club whose members are paid to act as replacements for the recently deceased, Alps melds pathos, black humour and taut menace in a film that is at once challenging and highly rewarding. A finely calibrated, absurdist study of power and identity, Alps is intelligent, uniquely emotive filmmaking from an important new voice in Greek cinema.”
    “I never expected such a nice wakeup call today. We are all extremely happy. I want to thank the Jury and the Festival and once again all the people who made the film possible,” observed Lanthimos said from Greece.

    Also in competition were films like Beasts of the Southern Wild, Caeser Must Die, The King of Pigs, Monsieur Lazhar, Neighbouring Sounds, On the Road and Today.

    Director Paul Gallasch won the Foxtel Australian Documentary Prize and $10,000 for his film Killing Anna. The documentary follows the director as he deals with a break-up from his ex-girlfriend Anna by holding a funeral for her, despite her being alive.

    A short film Yardbird that represented Australia recently at Cannes won Dendy‘s Live Action Short Award and the $5000 prize. The film, directed by Michael Spiccia, is the story of a young teenage girl who takes matters into her own hands when a trio of teens terrorise her father‘s car junkyard.

    Mirrah Foulkes, writer and director of Dumpy Goes to the Big Smoke won the Rouben Mamoulian Award for best direction and $5000 while the Yoram Gross Animation Award went to The Maker that is about a creature which must race against time to create the next incarnation of its kind.

  • Weinsten to produce French film The Intouchables

    Weinsten to produce French film The Intouchables

    MUMBAI: Harvey Weinstein, who produced the Oscar winning film The Artist, has decided to produce a new French film The Intouchables.
     
    Based on a true story, The Intouchables follows an inner city petty criminal, played by Omar Sy, who is hired to care for a quadriplegic aristocrat, portrayed by Francois Cluzet.
     
    And to make it sure that the film doesn‘t fail to set cash registers ringing in the US, the Weinstein Company has set an English-language version in the works. “We‘re happy to have The Artist and now to work on The Intouchables,” The Weinstein Co.‘s David Glasser has been quoted to have said.

    “Harvey has always been a lover of foreign films. And obviously this year, we have a lot of French films that are incredible.”

  • Madagascar 3 still no. 1 for second week too

    Madagascar 3 still no. 1 for second week too

    MUMBAI: Posting a fall of a modest 31 per cent from its opening foreign launch, DreamWorks Animation‘s Madagascar 3: Europe‘s Most Wanted stood at the No. 1 offshore box office spot for the second consecutive weekend with $53 million drawn from 10,957 locations in 43 markets. That puts the overseas gross total of the sequel in the animation franchise at $157 million.
     
    The film opened in 15 mostly medium-sized territories, taking the top spot in each. But it was the holdover territories that provided most of the box office impetus. Russia recorded $9.2 million, in France, the film collected $6.2 million while in Mexico, the film collected a modest $5.2 million.
     
    Director Adam Shankman‘s Warner Bros.-distributed film Rock of Ages played at 1,850 screens in 10 territories and drew $4.1 million with a UK debut garnering $1.6 million from 471 sites. That‘s My Boy, Adam Sandler‘s latest R-rated comedy premiered on 223 screens in Australia for $1.4 million.

    Taking the No. 1 weekend spot in Japan and the No. 2 berth overall was Universal‘s Snow White and the Huntsman that grossed $31.2 million from as many as 6,768 locations in 57 territories. In Japan, the film generated $4.7 million from 335 locations taking a 45 per cent market share while in France, the film drew $5.1 million from 610 situations for a 27 per cent market share.
     
    In Russia, Rupert Sanders‘ period action fantasy drew $6.1 million from 721 spots. The film has grossed a total of $124.6 million so far overseas with openings in Australia, New Zealand and Chile due this week.
     
    The weekend‘s No. 3 spot was occupied by Prometheus which registered No. 2 openings in Latin, Central and South America from Mexico to Argentina. In Mexico the collection was $3.2 million from 1,280 spots while in Brazil, it collected $3 million from 508 sites.