ITV

Category: Movies

  • Multiplexes move Competition Commission against producers

    MUMBAI: The Multiplex Association of India has filed a complaint against film producers alleging “cartelisation” to the Competition Commission of India (CCI).
    The complaint that has been filed against United Producers and Distributors Forum, Association of Motion Picture Producers (AMPTPP) and Film and TV Producers Guild of India pertains to Sections 3 (3) of Competition Act, the provision of which deals with anti-competitive agreements and cartels.

    “Producers have been accused of cartelisation. Cartel is an association of similar companies or businesses that have grouped together in order to prevent competition, “avers Anil Nagrath, former secretary general of IMPPA.
    He adds, ” I do not know in what context the multiplex owners have filed their complaint but I feel that it must have been made in the context of the strike causing harm or serious loss to multiplexes in general and also to the film-loving people.”

    “Such activities which cause or are likely to cause appreciable adverse effect on competition are anti-competitive, ” Nagrath explains.

    “Multiplex owners feel that blocking new releases had impacted their business and has ultimately affected movie buffs. However, since the provisions of the Act were notified only in mid-May and the multiplex issue pertains to a period before the notification came into force, it will be interesting to see how the Commission views the issue of whether action can be taken in this case,” wonders a trade analyst, on conditions of anonymity,

    The move comes at a time when hectic parleys are on between the two parties to resolve the ongoing deadlock over revenue sharing on Bollywood films.
    Asked about the plaint, United Producers and Distributors Forum chairman Mukesh Bhatt sounded ignorant about the happening. On the contrary, he averred, “Some progress has been made in the talks with multiplex operators. Negotiations are on and we hope things will be clear in a couple of days time.”

  • Producer recruiting military for film projects

    MUMBAI: With the intent to choose at least one project per year to produce and finance, Hollywood filmmaker Larry Meistrich‘s GI Pictures, best known for producing the Oscar-winning film Sling Blade, is soliciting movie and TV pitches from active members of the military, veterans and their family members.

    Beyond pitching, GI Pictures wants the projects to be made entirely by current and retired military personnel and family members, including writing, directing, producing acting and all crew members. Those with potential but no experience, he‘ll train. “My management team fits because we all have parents who were in the military,” Meistrich said.


    “The skills acquired during a military career are very complementary to production,” he said. “The way a set runs is similar to a chain of command, but we‘re obviously not risking our lives.”


    Although Meistrich acknowledges the “fertile ground for ideas” that come from military life and war, he says he‘s encouraging stories having nothing to do with either.


    Meistrich revealed that his father was a captain in the U.S. Army and a veteran of the Vietnam War. “We wanted to support the troops with more than just a yellow ribbon,” he said of his incentive to create GI Pictures.


    Dana Offenbach, a president of NEHST, will oversee productions at GI Pictures. Offenbach‘s credits include several independent films including the Miramax movie “Hav Plenty.”

  • Warners picks up Matt Johnson’s action spec

    MUMBAI: Warner Bros. has picked up the spec script Trans Am by Matt Johnson. The Southern-fried buddy action script centers on a disgraced sheriff‘s deputy and a repentant getaway driver who must elude a federal manhunt when they join forces to bring an escaped bank robber to justice. The action unfolds along the Mississippi River in the vein of a Deep South-set 48 HRS.

    Matt Reilly will oversee the project for Warners.


    Johnson was recently hired to adapt the Red 5 comic book Afterburn for Relativity and producers Neal Moritz and Tobey Maguire.


    His credits include 2004‘s Warners thriller Torque and the 2005 Jessica Alba film Into the Blue.


    Recently he penned the road-race adventure Baja 1000 for Spyglass.

  • Dreamworks Animation announces slate till 2012


    MUMBAI: Dreamworks Animation has announced its slate of films through 2012 that includes:


    How to Train Your Dragon: Written and directed by Chris Sanders and Den DeBlois and produced by Bonnie Arnold the film stars



    Jay Baruchel, Gerard Butler, America Ferrera and Johan Hill. Set in the world of vikings and dragons, the film centers on an awkward teen who befriends an injured dragon. The film is set for a 26 March, 2010 release.
    Shrek Forever After: Directed by Mike Mitchell and produced by Teresa Cheng and Gina Shay the film is slated to release on 21 May, 2010.



    Oobermind: This film stars Robert Downey Jr. and Tina Fey in which Downey will voice a super-villain who finds life a little dull after vanquishing good-guy rival Metro Man in the superhero-themed film that is expected to open on 5 Nov., 2010.


    Kung Fu Panda: The Kaboom of Doom: The sequel to the 2008 hit with Jack Black and Dustin Hoffman returning to the voice cast is due to hit theaters on June 3, 2011.


    The Guardians: Turning to a not-yet-published book series by William Joyce, whose work has previously inspired Disney‘s Meet the Robinsons and Rolie Polie Olie. The Guardians unites characters every child knows – Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny, the Tooth Fairy, Jack Frost and the Sandman – to protect the world from a Bogeyman-like villain. The film is due to release on 4 November, 2011.


    Puss in Boots: Puss in Boots imagines events before the popular character‘s appearance in Shrek 2, while introducing all-new characters. Antonio Banderas returns while Salma Hayek will lend her voice to love interest Kitty. Directed by Chris Miller director of Shrek the Third, the film is slated for release on 30 March 2012.


    Madagascar 3: In May, 2012 director Eric Darnell offers the third instalment in the zoo-break series which would relocate the animals from Africa to Europe via a traveling circus.
    The Croods: A caveman comedy



    from directors Chris Sanders and Kirk DeMicco, the film was once intended to be an Aardman collaboration. The film is among the few vying for a 12 November, 2012 release.



    Truckers: Derived from Terry Pratchett‘s The Bromeliad Trilogy, with Simon Beaufoy adapting a story of miniature creatures stuck living in a department store. The film is also eying 12 November, release.


    Super Secret Ghost Project: The film about what ghosts think about humans is also in the fray for a 12 Nov, 2012 release.



  • Streisand book set for fall 2010

    MUMBAI: Viking has acquired the world rights of Barbara Streisand‘s book A Passion for Design in which the performer focuses on the architecture and building of her latest home. The book is expected to release in 2010.

    A Passion for Design will chronicle Streisand‘s previous residences, from her New York apartment to her Los Angeles townhouse and her homes along the California coast. It will contain many of her own photographs of rooms she has decorated, furniture and art she has collected, and flowers and vegetables she grows in her gardens.


    The book that was acquired by Viking president Clare Ferraro will be edited by Viking executive editor Rick Kot. Robert Barnett of Williams & Connolly negotiated the acquisition for world rights and first serial.

  • Producer-Plex row forces cinema theatre in US to down shutters

    MUMBAI: The tussle between Bollywood producers and multiplex owners is beginning to hurt small ethnic movie theatres in the US.

    As per media reports, Eagle Theater in Jackson Heights, Queens, New York has temporarily shut down.



    The 500-seat theatre specialises in first-run Bollywood movies. The owners of the theatre are planning to resume as soon as the strike in India ends.

  • MGM looks to avoid bankruptcy

    MUMBAI: Burdened by a debt load totaling almost $4 billion, MGM executives were hoping to get enough hit movies into theatres quickly enough to solve its money woes internally, but with growing signs of restlessness among studio creditors

    , the studio is on the look out for any sort of capital restructuring that can avert a forced Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganisation.


    One big motivator: MGM‘s long-standing hold on the 007 franchise could come into play in a court-supervised reorganisation. To avoid that, MGM might consider giving up a sizable portion of their equity holdings.


    MGM is owned by a consortium including Sony, Comcast, TPG Capital and Providence Equity. No one is suggesting that talks between the studio and its creditors have yielded a specific game plan. But some sort of voluntary restructuring could emerge in the absence of any obvious white-knight investor.


    One scenario would see a creditors-led restructuring in which the lenders are allowed to swap a sizable portion of MGM debt for studio equity. Current debt-holders include Elliott Associates, a New York-based hedge fund closely tied to Hollywood producer Ryan Kavanaugh that‘s been buying up hundreds of millions in distressed MGM debt.

  • Universal creates new unit


    MUMBAI: In a move at integrating the studio‘s brand management


    and promotional partnerships, Universal Pictures has combined the studio‘s Consumer Products Group with its Universal Studios Partnerships division to form Universal Partnerships and Licensing.


    Stephanie Sperber, who currently heads USP, will run the new division and assume the title executive vice-president, Universal Partnerships and Licensing (UP&L).


    UP&L will now have oversight over all of the studio‘s consumer product licensing, film and home entertainment promotions and corporate alliances for the studio‘s theatrical, home entertainment, theme parks and stage productions.


    “By putting our brand management efforts under one roof, we provide more effective servicing for our corporate partners and our studio,” said Universal chairman Marc Shmuger.


    Under the new organisation, senior vice-president Amy Taylor will oversee UP&L‘s North American promotions, worldwide licensing and retail development. (She and her team are currently spearheading sales for upcoming Universal Pictures feature films such as Land of the Lost and are handling promotional activities for films developed around Hasbro products such as Stretch Armstrong.)


    David O‘Connor will also oversee marketing for UP&L, reporting to both Sperber and Universal‘s president of marketing and distribution Adam Fogelson. O‘Connor will continue to be responsible for developing content ideas and integration with NBC and its related entities and Universal theme parks.


    Stephanie Testa will head UP&L‘s corporate alliances practice, which oversees long-term partnerships for Universal‘s film, home entertainment, theme park and stage production business units. She is responsible for the acquisition of new brand partners as well as managing relationships with the existing partners.

  • ‘Shadow of the Colossus’ to be made a film

    MUMBAI: It is generally seen Shadow of the Colossus is heading to the big screen. The popular video game is being developed as a feature by producer Kevin Misher, who has set the project up at Sony.

    Justin Marks, the go-to young scribe who‘s writing 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea for McG at Disney, is attached to pen the script.


    Colossus which was developed for the PlayStation 2 was released in the U.S. in 2005. It quickly became a huge hit as well as a critical favourite. The game centers on the character Wander, who along with his horse Agro travels across a Western-style landscape to defeat enemies known as Collosi, with Wander‘s larger aim to save the girl Mono.


    Unlike many other games, Colossus is dominated by a minimalist landscape and lacks ensemble characters; instead, the challenge lies in locating the remote Colossi and uncovering their weaknesses through a series of puzzle-like challenges. Its scenes as well as its soundtrack are regarded by many as highly cinematic.

  • Al Pacino mulling Kevorkian biopic

    MUMBAI: Al Pacino is in negotiations to star in an HBO Films biopic about Dr. Jack Kevorkian titled You Don‘t Know Jack that Barry Levinson will direct.

    Kevorkian, also known as Dr. Death, assisted in more than 150 cases of suicide and had beaten the state court system in Michigan numerous times, but was finally convicted after he willingly sent a videotape of himself euthanizing a terminally ill man to 60 Minutes.


    He was convicted of second-degree murder in 1999 and is serving his sentence in a maximum-security prison in Michigan.


    The film will trace his rise as he builds his infamous ‘Mercy Machine‘, conducts his first assisted suicide and starts a media frenzy with his epic legal battles defending a patient‘s right to die.