ITV

Category: Movies

  • Jaws producer David Brown passes away at 93

    MUMBAI: Acclaimed movie producer and executive David Brown died today at his home in Manhattan after a long illness. He was 93.


    A public funeral will be held on 4 February at 3.30 pm in New York city.


    Brown‘s career spanned for six decades that includes four academy award nominations and box office hits like The Sting and Jaws, Cocoon and Driving Miss Daisy.


    Before heading to Hollywood to join the film industry in 1951, Brown enjoyed a career as a journalist, including a stint as managing editor of Cosmopolitan. Brown also authored a number of books with the most recent being in 2006 – Brown‘s Guide to the Good Life Without Tears, Fears or Boredom.


    Brown was married for more than 50 years to Cosmopolitan magazine editor and author Helen Gurley Brown. He is survived by his wife.
     

  • Aamir Khan’s father dies at 79

    MUMBAI: Tahir Hussain, noted Bollywood producer and father of Aamir Khan, died today following a massive cardiac arrest. He was 79 years old.


    Hussain has contributed to Bollywood as an actor, writer, director and producer. He has acted in movies including Pyar Ka Mausam and Dil Deke Dekho. He has also produced blockbusters including Anamika, Hum Hain Rahi Pyar Ke and Caravan.


    With Tum Mere Ho Hussain made his directorial debut, where he directed his son Aamir Khan.


    Aamir Khan, who was in Los Angeles, is flying back to India today. The funeral takes place tomorrow evening.

  • Roy Orbison honoured with ‘Walk of Fame’

    MUMBAI: Roy Orbison has been posthumously honoured with the Hollywood Walk of Fame.


    The star was accepted by Orbison‘s widow Barbara at a ceremony attended by Eric Idle, Chris Isaak and Dan Aykroyd.


    Orbison drew fans worldwide with his five-octave range and a songwriting style that connected with teenagers who knew how unrequited love and loneliness felt. Orbison is also credited with bringing rock ‘n‘ roll to Nashville and helping inspire the British Invasion.


    Orbison was an American singer-songwriter and musician, well known for his distinctive, powerful voice, complex compositions, and dark emotional ballads.


    Orbison grew up in Texas and began singing in a rockabilly / country and western band in high school until he was signed by Sun Records in Memphis. His greatest success was with Monument Records in the early 1960s where 22 of his songs placed on the Top Forty, including “Only the Lonely”, “Crying”, “In Dreams”, and “Oh, Pretty Woman”. His career stagnated through the 1970s, but several covers of his songs and the use of one in a film by David Lynch revived his career in the 1980s.


    He joined the supergroup, The Traveling Wilburys, with George Harrison, Bob Dylan, Tom Petty, and Jeff Lynne and released an album in 1988. He died of a heart attack at the age of 52, at the zenith of his resurgence.
     

  • Avatar continues to rule box-office worldwide

    MUMBAI: Avatar, the James Cameron‘s 3-D blockbuster, has garnered another $30 million over the weekend in the US and Canada as it continues to rule the worldwide box-office charts.


    Industry experts estimate that the movie is expected to grab $2 billion worldwide by later this week.


    Meanwhile, occupying the second position is the thriller flick, Edge of Darkness starring Mel Gibson. The film has collected $17.1 million.


    Standing in the third spot is the Disney comedy, When in Rome earned $12.1 million, which made $12.1 million at the box-office.


    Tooth Fairy, meanwhile, has made $10 million in the week.
     

  • Sony Pictures acquires US rights of ‘Winter In Wartime’

    MUMBAI: Sony Pictures Classics has bought the all-US rights of the Dutch film, Winter In Wartime, from High Point Films.


    High Point Films is the theatrical division of Carey Fitzgerald‘s London-based High Point Media Group.


    The deal was negotiated by Dylan Leiner, currently EVP acquisitions and production at Sony Pictures Classics, along with High Point director theatrical sales and marketing Elisar Cabrera.


    Directed by Martin Koolhoven, Winter In Wartime revolves around the story of a 13-year-old boy who get involved in the resistance after he helps a wounded British soldier during World War II.


    The screenplay has been written by Mieke de Jong, Paul Jan Nelissen and Martin Koolhoven and was based on the novel of the same name by Jan Terlouw.


    The film was hugely successful in the Netherlands, out-grossing competing films like Twilight and The Dark Knight. It was the highest grossing film in The Netherlands during Christmas 2008 and the first weeks of 2009.


    It was also chosen by the Dutch Critics as the best Dutch film of 2008, it won the PZC Audience Award (best movie based on a novel), three Rembrandt Awards and three Golden Calf awards. It is the Dutch entry (Best Foreign Language Film) for the Academy Awards of 2010.
     

  • Mandate Pictures gets Lawrence Grey to build slate

    MUMBAI: Mandate Pictures, the Los Angeles-based film distribution and production company, has roped in Lawrence Grey in a senior creative post.


    Joining from 8 February, Grey‘s new mandate will be to play a key role in building Mandate‘s slate, reports Variety.
     


    Prior to this appointrment, Grey was SVP production at Universal Pictures.


    For 2010, Mandate Pictures production slate includes The Baster, starring Jennifer Aniston and Jason Bateman and another untitled project, starring James McAvoy and Seth Rogen.
     

  • Reliance Big Pictures to release Well Done Abba on 26 March

    MUMBAI: After the recent success of Paa and 3 Idiots, Reliance Big Pictures will release Shyam Benegal‘s Well Done Abba on 26 March.


    Shot in Hyderabad, the film stars Boman Irani and Minissha Lamba in pivotal roles along with Sammir Dattani, Ila Arun, Sonali Kulkarni, Ravi Kissen, Rajit Kapur, Ravi Jhankal and Yashpal Sharma.


    Well Done Abba is the story of Armaan Ali, a driver working for a senior executive in Mumbai, who goes on leave. He wants to find a match for his teenage daughter, who stays with his brother Rehman Ali and his wife Salma. When Armaan returns to work after 3 months, his young employer wants to sack him. But Armaan Ali has a story to tell. 


    The story he tells is a humorous and often hilarious account of the events and happenings that delayed him from returning after a month. He avails a government scheme to dig a well in his agricultural patch. Things spiral out of control so much so that the Government is about to collapse.


    Adapted from the story ‘Narsaiyyan Ki Bavdi‘ by Jeelani Bano, and Phulwa Ka Pul‘ by Sanjeev, the film has screenplay by Jayant Kripalani, script and dialogues by Ashok Mishra, music by Shantanu Moitra and lyrics by Ashok Mishra, Swanand Kirkire and Ila Arun.


    The film has already won audience and critical acclaim at festivals around the world that include the recently concluded 6th Dubai Film Festival 2009, the 33rd Montreal World Film Festival 2009 in ‘World Greats‘ Section and the 53rd London Film Festival 2009 in ‘World Cinema‘ section.

  • Jackie Chan may make his Bollywood debut with SRK’s Ra1

    MUMBAI: Jackie Chan is likely to make his Bollywood debut with Shah Rukh‘s Ra1.


    There are indications that Red Chillies is in talks with Chan for the super-hero action film to be directed by Anubhav Sinha.


    Ra1 will be cinematographed by Ueli Steiger while David Benullo will write the screenplay.


    Chan will play the role of a scientist who helps Shah Rukh fight off the bad guys.


    Chan has earlier worked with Mallika Sherawat in The Myth. However, over the years, the actor has become extremely choosy about his work. His last release, The Spy Next Door, didn‘t do good business at the box-office.

  • Disney says brand continues despite closure of Miramax offices

    MUMBAI: Despite a few offices of Miramax closed down this week, owner Walt Disney Co. said that the brand will continue to exist.


    A Miramax employee sent out an e-mail in the week saying Miramax offices will be closed as of Friday. The e-mail directed all inquiries for upcoming Miramax projects to a Disney employee.


    The offices‘ closure was in line with plans announced in October to slash Miramax‘s movie production to three per year, down from six to eight, and eliminate 50 jobs in New York and Los Angeles.


    Some 20 employees who were still aboard, mostly at the New York headquarters were asked to move to Disney‘s headquarters in Burbank.


    Disney confirmed that it has six Miramax films to be distributed till 2011 that includes The Baster and The Debt set to release soon.
     

  • Dori Media sells 50 per cent stake of Argentine Studios

    MUMBAI: Dori Media Group is to sell off its 50 per cent interest in the Argentine production facility Dori Media Central Studios to its partner in the venture to Celina Amadeo and Marcelo Octavio Amadeo for $850,000.


    Pending approval by Argentina‘s Labour Ministry, the deal is expected to close next month.


    In late 2007, Dori became a partner in the company, then known as Central Park Productions. The company says its new show Ciega a Citas (Date Blind) will continue to be filmed at the studio until mid-2010.


    Dori Media Group president and CEO Nadav Palti said, “Buying a stake in Dori Media Central Studios was part of a larger strategy, and this strategy hasn‘t changed. Dori Media Group is now examining new opportunities and ways to invest in new ventures in Latin America.


    In addition, the group will continue its traditional productions in Argentina, producing high quality titles, with international appeal, and sell them worldwide such as the current successful production of Ciega a Citas.”