Category: Movies

MUMBAI: Mauj Mobile, in association with Eros Multimedia, has developed mobile content for the film Hijack, which will hit theatres on 5 September.

Mauj Mobile is a telecom solutions company that offers services in mobile content and applications, mobile software and services, and mobile media solutions.

Mauj will provide ringtones, graphics, video clips, CRBTS, animations, themes, colour logos and wallpapers based on the film.

People Infocom (Mauj) CEO Manoj Dawane said, “Hijack has given us an opportunity to develop content that is fun-filled and exciting, in keeping with the feel of the movie, and we have utilised this to the best in the form of ringtones, videos, animations, wallpapers, etc. We are optimistic about the uptake of the movie in the form of mobile content. The content will also ensure maximum visibility for the film before its final release.”

Hijack is an action thriller, starring Shiney Ahuja and Esha Deol.

MUMBAI: P9 Design, the film publicity design vertical of Percept Holdings Group’s international film-marketing company P9 Integrated, has created publicity design for C-Kkompany.

The designing company has done posters, stills and billboards for the Balaji Motion Pictures upcoming film, releasing on 29 August.

P9 claims that it has designed the publicity campaign for C-Kkompany by keeping the unique theme, subject and genre of the film in mind. The USP of the film was kept in mind while designing the posters and stills and a major thrust was giving to the onscreen chemistry that the characters share. All the creative have backdrop and images of middle class settings in Mumbai connoting the theme of the film.

The film is about three middle class characters Tushar Kapoor, Rajpal Yadav and Anupam Kher who are known for their buffoonery acts and are always in some kind of a problem somewhere related to money.

P9 Integrated AVP – business development Rahul Merchant said, “In today‘s time where every weekend there is a clutter of film releases, it has become pivotal for every movie that gets released to get noticed. P9‘s publicity design vertical tries to give every film a distinct look through an apt well thought concept and approach for designing posters by effectively understanding the script, defining the target audience, finding an insight, deciding positioning of the film and then delivering the execution.”

P9 recently has also embarked in providing website designing and promo designing services.

P9‘s film chronicles include Shaurya, Summer 2007, Hastey Hastey, Dus Kahaniyan, Dhol, Bombay To Bangkok, Return Of Hanuman, Mumbai Salsa and Loins Of Punjab. Their upcoming films include Rubaru, Right Yaa Wrong, Rang Rasiya, Aashayein, Firaaq, Pankh, Manikantan, Kanchivaram, Tasveer 8x 10 among others, said a company release.

MUMBAI: Deepa Mehta‘s Heaven On Earth will be premiered at the Toronto Film Festival.

Produced by BR Films, the film has Preity Zinta in the lead role. She plays the role of repressed women. Deepa Mehta‘s Sam And Me will also be showcased at the fest as part of a presentation called Dialogues: Talking with Pictures.

The Akshay Kumar-starrer Singh is Kinng will also be screened at the Toronto Film Festival beginning 4 September. The film festival which will run till 13 September will also showcase a total of 312 films.

Preity Zinta, Akshay Kumar, Nandita Das, Anees Bazmee from Bollywood and former cop Kiran Bedi are some of the popular Indians who have been invited to the fest.

The other films which will be screened are Toa Fraser‘s Dean Spanley, Jodie Markell‘s The Loss of a Teardrop Diamond, Rod Lurie‘s Nothing But the Truth, Gavin O‘Connor‘s Pride and Glory and Joel Coen‘s Burn After Reading.

MUMBAI: Tropic Thunder, the Ben Stiller comedy, has surpassed The Dark Knight on the US box office by collecting $26 million in the first week.

The Dark Knight collected $16.8 million over the same period. The movie, starring Christian Bale as Batman, had held the top spot for four weeks and raked in $471.5 million over five weeks.

Tropic Thunder is a comedy about three actors who want to shoot a Vietnam war movie. But somehow they end up in the real conflict with the real gunmen.

James Cameron‘s Titanic remains the highest-grossing film in the US with takings of $601 million.

MUMBAI: Warner Bros. Pictures has announced that it has moved back the release date of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince to Summer 2009. The sixth installment of the blockbuster Harry Potter franchise will now open in the US and in the major international markets on 17 July, 2009. The announcement was made by Warner Bros president and COO Alan Horn.

Horn says, “Our reasons for shifting Half-Blood Prince to summer are twofold: we know the summer season is an ideal window for a family tent pole release, as proven by the success of our last Harry Potter film, which is the second-highest grossing film in the franchise, behind only the first installment.

“Additionally, like every other studio, we are still feeling the repercussions of the writers‘ strike, which impacted the readiness of scripts for other films—changing the competitive landscape for 2009 and offering new windows of opportunity that we wanted to take advantage of. We agreed the best strategy was to move ‘Half-Blood Prince‘ to July, where it perfectly fills the gap for a major tent pole release for mid-summer.”

Warner Bros. Pictures Group president Jeff Robinov says, “The release date change does not alter the production schedule for this or future Harry Potter films. Post-production on Half-Blood Prince was completed on time, and the studio‘s release plans for the two-part Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows will not be affected by this change. We know Harry Potter fans are eagerly anticipating seeing the final chapters unfold onscreen. In fact, the good news for them is that the gap will now be shortened between Half-Blood Prince and the first part of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.”

David Heyman, the producer of all the Harry Potter films, adds: “When Jeff Robinov explained the rationale behind moving the release date of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince to July 2009, it was immediately apparent that this offered us the potential to reach the widest possible audience. I am extremely proud of this latest film and of the work of David Yates and our incomparable cast; I believe we have developed and pushed the series further still. We are all looking forward to sharing it with Harry Potter fans around the world, even if we have to wait just a bit longer.”

In Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, Voldemort is tightening his grip on both the Muggle and wizarding worlds and Hogwarts is no longer the safe haven it once was. Harry suspects that dangers may even lie within the castle, but Dumbledore is more intent upon preparing him for the final battle that he knows is fast approaching. Meanwhile, the students are under attack from a very different adversary as teenage hormones rage across the ramparts. Love is in the air, but tragedy lies ahead and Hogwarts may never be the same again.

MUMBAI: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures has acquired Ken Kaufman and David Agosto’s pitch with Peter Segal attached to produce and direct.

Segal is the director of the comedy Get Smart starring Steve Carell, Anne Hathaway, Dwayne Johnson and Alan Arkin. The project reunites Segal with two of the producers of Get Smart, Andrew Lazar and Michael Ewing. Ewing is Segal’s longtime producing partner.

Based on an original idea by Lazar, the untitled project will be an action comedy featuring an ensemble cast. On the pitch idea, Callahan Filmworks will team with Andrew Lazar’s Mad Chance Productions. MGM executive VP, production resident and MGM VP, theatrical production Luke Ryan will oversee the project for the studio.

Boyter says, “This project is a character-driven action-comedy that‘s wrapped inside a big concept, and it harkens back to movies such as Lethal Weapon and 48 hours. We feel fortunate to have Pete Segal driving the train as his body of work indicates that he‘ll deliver the right blend of action, comedy and drama.”

MUMBAI: US film studio MGM has anounced that its consumer products’ new cause-related marketing initiative Pinkitude has roped in actress Emmy Rossum.

She has signed on as Pinkitude‘s official spokesperson. She stars as Bulma in the upcoming film Dragonball. She will assist MGM Consumer Products and Susan G. Komen for the Cure in sharing life-saving breast health messages with young women everywhere through the Pinkitude campaign. A minimum of five per cent of the sales of the modern fashion line targeting teen and young adult women will be donated to Susan G. Komen for Cure, the global leader in the breast cancer movement.

Pinkitude will kick off with a series of events, starting with an invitation-only reception hosted byRossum and featuring celebrity deejays Spinderella (of Salt ’n’ Pepa) and Sean Patrick this month. Also on tap, is launch of the first Pinkitude Pop Up Store which will open on Saturday, 16 August at 1 pm. The public is invited to this event, which will be held in Los Angeles.

Rossum says, “As a young woman whose family has personally been affected by breast cancer, I am grateful for the opportunity to help raise awareness of this disease by sharing my Pinkitude with young women everywhere.

The Pinkitude brand initiative is devised to educate young women and teens on the importance of breast self-awareness, early detection and treatment of breast cancer while also stressing the importance of a healthy lifestyle.

The fashion brand is an approach to life inspired by Pink Panther. Encouraging women to live life completely; take care of their mind, body and spirit and trust in their own identity. The Pinkitude initiative starts now and will culminate in October, which is the National Breast Cancer Awareness Month.

MUMBAI: Adlabs Cinemas, part of the Reliance Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group, has launched a three-screen multiplex at Ansal Plaza in Gurgaon.

The cinema, which will open to the audiences from 15 August, has a seating capacity of 802 seats.

Adlabs Cinemas COO Tushar Dhingra said, “Gurgaon, being one of Delhi‘s four major satellite cities, has grown tremendously over the past few years. Hence, we are excited to enter this city and offer the people of Gurgaon world class facilities.”

Apart from Adlabs‘ other booking methods like telebooking, internet booking and “mobile box-office”, the cinema also aims to offer a self-ticketing counter for “Do-it-Yourself” bookings.

With this addition, Adlabs Cinemas now has 179 screens spread over 69 properties across India.

Also, Adlabs Cinemas, which recently acquired majority interest in Malaysia-based Lotus Five Star Cinemas, will be operating a 51-screen cinema chain in Malaysia, claims the company.

Currently, the Adlabs Cinemas international network, including Malaysia, encapsulates 221 screens covering the East, Mid West and West Coast of the United States along with Mauritius and Nepal.

MUMBAI: Percept Picture Company (PPC) is set to release Rishton Ki Machine pan-India on 5 September. The film will be premiered on 4 September at Cinemax.

Rishton Ki Machine, a comedy flick directed by Jatin Ravasia, has been produced by PPC and stars Boman Irani, Sonali Kulkarni and Kiran Kumar.

Rishton Ki Machine revolves around the story of a scientist along with his wife and kids. It is the story of an underdog who eventually wins the race of life, states the company.

Film director Jatin Ravasia said, “It was indeed fun directing Rishton Ki Machine. The script of the film and the performances by the star cast has been outstanding. It’s a film which every family will be able to connect with and go home with a smile. We are very confident of the film and the response that it will get and the curiosity it will generate amongst the audience.”

MUMBAI: The Akshay Kumar-starrer Singh Is Kinng, which hit theatres on 8 August, has garnered Rs 595 million worldwide. Also, the film has emerged as the biggest Bollywood opener at the box-office overseas.

“While the film has grossed Rs 450 million in India, the overseas collections of Singh Is Kinng stands at Rs 145 million,” said Studio 18 domestic distribution head Aman Gill.

“The film is definitely doing very well. Within three days at Cinemax, the film has grossed approximately Rs 25 million, 35 per cent higher than all past records,” added Cinemax VP marketing, programming Devang Sampat.

The film saw a simultaneous release in Trinidad and Tobago, Switzerland, Germany, Belgium, Netherlands, Luxembourg, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Mauritius, Fiji, Malaysia, Hong Kong, Singapore, South Africa, East Africa, West Africa, Australia and New Zealand, among other countries.

Distributed on 275 prints in these markets, Singh Is Kinng mopped up approximately Rs 120 million in its opening weekend.

Released with 112 prints in North America, including 28 in Canada, the film popped open to a response ringing up an estimated Rs 50.74 million.

In UK and Ireland, on 70 prints, it grossed Rs 5.04 million on its previews and notched Rs 34.74 million over the weekend, taking its cumulative to Rs 39.8 million and placing it at No.7 in the UK Top 10 chart.

The film was released on 33 prints in the Middle East where it has grossed approximately Rs 23.25 million.

The film has performed far better than any other movies, breaking the record of the other hits of the year, including Jodha Akbar and Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na.

As reported on Indiantelevision.com earlier, Aamir Khan Productions‘ Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na grossed Rs 270 million in India and around Rs 50.8 million overseas within a span of ten days of its release while UTV‘s Jodhaa Akbar had garnered Rs 385 million during its opening weekend.

Singh Is Kinng, produced by Vipul Shah‘s Blockbuster Movies, features Akshay Kumar and Katrina Kaif, supported by Neha Dhupia, Om Puri, Kirron Kher, Sonu Sood and Javed Jaffrey. It is an Indian Films-Studio 18 release.