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Tag: Cloud Atlas

  • Hugh Grant returns to romcom with ‘The Rewrite’

    Hugh Grant returns to romcom with ‘The Rewrite’

    MUMBAI: After a gap of five years, Hugh Grant is making a return to romantic comedies with The Rewrite.

     

    Written and directed by Marc Lawrence, the movie also stars Marisa Tomei, Allison Janney, JK Simmons and Chris Elliott.

     

    In the new comedy, the British actor plays a screenwriter whose Hollywood career peaked in late 80s. Now divorced and broke, he reluctantly accepts a teaching job at an American university.

     

    Marisa Tomei co-stars as one of his students (Holly), who isn’t impressed by the level of commitment that the professor is putting forth. Holly is a single mother who’s taking classes to earn her degree. Meanwhile, Keith gets himself caught in a web of lies involving Matt Damon and Ryan Gosling.

     

    This is Lawrence’s fourth collaboration with Grant after Did You Hear about the Morgans?, Music and Lyrics, and Two Weeks Notice.

     

    The Rewrite is Grant’s first romcom since 2009’s Did You Hear About the Morgans? In the meantime, Grant voiced The Pirate Captain in Aardman’s high-seas stop-motion adventure The Pirates! In an Adventure with Scientists!, and also appeared in the film adaptation of David Mitchell’s Cloud Atlas in a variety of roles including a nuclear power plant boss, an elderly care home escapee, and a vicious futuristic cannibal tribesman.

     

    The movie is slated to hit theaters on 8 October in the UK, but no US release date has been announced yet.

  • Chinese censors clip Cloud Atlas by 40 minutes

    Chinese censors clip Cloud Atlas by 40 minutes

    MUMBAI: Chinese viewers of Cloud Atlas will have to make do with a version that’s missing 40 minutes from the original shown everywhere else in the world.

    According to reports in the Chinese media, Cloud Atlas released in Beijing last Monday night in a 130-minute cut much shorter than the 169-minute version released worldwide (including Hong Kong, which sustains a film censorship system independent from mainland China). It is however understood that the film’s directing trio Andy Wachowski, his sister Lanaand and Germany’s Tom Tykwer were not involved in the re-edit.

    Speaking to the Chinese press before the film’s premiere, they said that they acknowledged the constraints of releasing the film in China, but they trusted the editing qualities of the film’s Chinese co-producers, Dreams of the Dragon Pictures.

    A report in the Shanghai-based Dongfang Daily had reported that expository sequences and passionate love scenes were edited out from the film which opens in China on 31 January while gory sequences depicting a character being shot in the head or another having his throat slit remained.

    At the center of this screen adaptation of novelist David Mitchell’s multi-stranded Cloud Atlas is a romantic relationship between budding composer Robert Frobisher (played by Ben Whishaw) and his Cambridge schoolmate Rufus Sixsmith (James D’Arcy) – and it is high likely that scenes from this thread were left off the Chinese version of the film, as same-sex romances remain a taboo for Chinese censors.

    In another scene, set in a 22nd century Korean city called Neo-Seoul, a human-replicant waitress (played by Chinese actress Zhou Xun) is shown having sex with her foreman, an image which could run into problems with the authorities.

    Cloud Atlas is the second foreign production bowing in China in a censored version in as many weeks. Skyfall, which was released in the country last Monday, was released with a scene of the killing of a Chinese doorman cut out and subtitles which obscured the on-screen lines about a prostitution ring in Macau and torture meted out by Chinese intelligence services.

  • Academy shortlists 10 films to fight in VFX category at Oscars

    Academy shortlists 10 films to fight in VFX category at Oscars

    MUMBAI: The Academy has shortlisted ten films to compete for the Oscar in the visual effects category at the 85th Academy Awards.

    The films are, The Amazing Spider-Man, Cloud Atlas, The Dark Knight Rises, The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, John Carter, Life of Pi, The Avengers, Prometheus, Skyfall and Snow White & the Huntsman.

    Two films like Men in Black 3 and Battleship that were among the hopefuls, didn‘t make the cut. Neither did the final installment of the Twilight Saga, Breaking Dawn — Part 2.

    Franchise films figured heavily in the selection. The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey is the first of three Hobbit films that will make up a prequel to Peter Jackson‘s The Lord of the Rings (LOTR) trilogy. All three LOTR films had earlier won Oscars for visual effects.

    Sony Pictures Imageworks‘ work on the Spider-Man franchise has also previously been recognized by the Academy. Both Spider-Man and Spider-Man 2 were nominated, with the second film taking home the Oscar.

    Another sequel that has some history in the category is The Dark Knight Rises. The Dark Knight was nominated for a VFX Oscar in 2009. Double Negative returned as the lead VFX house for the series‘ finale.

    Skyfall‘s inclusion is notable since 007 has made only two previous appearances in the VFX category, scoring one win, for 1965‘s Thunderball, and an additional nomination for 1979‘s Moonraker.

    The convincing tiger that‘s featured in Life of Pi helped Ang Lee‘s movie secure a spot. Rhythm & Hues was the lead VFX house on Pi.

    If any of the short-listed films also earns a best picture nomination when the Academy Awards nominations are announced on 10 January that could boost its chances in the VFX category.

  • Argo at no. 1 with Cloud Atlas taking a beating

    Argo at no. 1 with Cloud Atlas taking a beating

    MUMBAI: In a downturn, Warner Bros‘ Cloud Atlas opened at a disappointing No. 3 with $9.4 million. The situation helped Ben Affleck‘s Argo to rise to the No. 1 position in its third weekend as four new releases bombed at the box office.
    It is said that pre-Halloween parties, football and the World Series were more of a distraction. However, New York City grosses were hurt on Sunday as theatres shut down in advance of the approaching mega storm.
    Argo grossed $12.4 million from 2,855 theatres for an appreciating North American total of $60.8 million. The film dropped 25 per cent and is the first movie since The Blind Side to come in the No. 1 spot for the first time in its third weekend.
    There was more bad news for Cloud Atlas. It also was beaten by holdover Hotel Transylvania that narrowly claimed the No. 2 spot with $9.5 million from 3,276 locations in its fifth weekend for a domestic total of $130.4 million.
    The $100 million Cloud Atlas came in at No. 3 with $9.4 million from 2,008 locations. The film, hurt by a C+ CinemaScore and mixed reviews, will need to make a strong showing internationally.

  • Tom Hanks starrer Cloud Atlas to hit theatres in October ’12

    Tom Hanks starrer Cloud Atlas to hit theatres in October ’12

    MUMBAI: Integrated media and entertainment company PVR Limited is all set to bring adventure-drama multi-starrer ‘Cloud Atlas‘ to the big screen in India. The film stars Tom Hanks and Halle Berry in the lead along with Hugh Grant, Susan Sarandon, Jim Broadbent, Hugo Weaving, Jim Sturgess, Doona Bae, Ben Whishaw, James D‘Arcy, Zhou Xun, Keith David and David Gyasi.
    The film is set for an October release in the US and India. Cloud Atlas is an adaptation of the eponymous 2004 novel by David Mitchell. The movie has been written and directed by Lana Wachowski and Andy Wachowski along with Tom Tykwer.
    Cloud Atlas is a story of humankind in which the actions and consequences of everyone‘s lives impact one another throughout the past, present and future. This is exemplified in its caption ‘Everything is connected‘. The film shows how one soul is shaped, across lifetimes, from a murderer into a saviour and a single act of kindness ripples out for centuries to inspire a revolution. Each member of the ensemble appears in multiple roles as the story moves through time.
    PVR Pictures president Kamal Gianchandani said, “Cloud Atlas boasts of a great ensemble cast consisting of Tom Hanks, Halle Berry, Hugh Grant, Susan Sarandon, Hugo Weaving and many others which almost guarantees a great experience in itself. This is one of the most awaited Hollywood movies of this year and PVR is proud to be at the forefront in bringing great cinema, much like Cloud Atlas, from the world over to India. We are positive the Indian audience will appreciate this offering as they have done in the past.”

  • 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.