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Tag: Dreamworks

  • Steven Spielberg opts out of directing ‘American Sniper’

    Steven Spielberg opts out of directing ‘American Sniper’

    MUMBAI: After having declared that he would be directing the movie about celebrated Navy Seal Chris Kyle, the Jurassic Park director has decided to not be a part of the project. DreamWorks, that joined Warner Bros in a co-production after Spielberg announced his association, has also decided to pull out of the film.

     

    The movie scripted by Jason Hall, has Bradley Cooper in the lead role. Cooper is also producing along with Andrew Lazar and Peter Morgan.

     

    This is the second time the acclaimed director has changed his priorities. He had previously pushed the filming of Robocalypse to a further date as he says he wants to redevelop it. The sudden change in plans is pointed to his keenness to follow up on Lincoln.

     

    Warner Bros will now have to look for another filmmaker to keep the movie on board. Spielberg is known to have his projects perfected to the T before he commits to them.

  • Paul Greengrass to helm ‘The trial of Chicago 7’

    Paul Greengrass to helm ‘The trial of Chicago 7’

    MUMBAI: Paul Greengrass is in final talks to direct the movie written by Aaron Sorkin, creator of the Newsroom, the movie is based on the trial of seven people who were charged with conspiracy and inciting to riot during the Chicago protests of 1968’s Democratic national Convention.

     

    DreamWorks will be funding development while Disney will be distributing the movie. Sorkin had signed a three project deal with DreamWorks in 2007.

     

    The project which has been in the doldrums since long, Steven Spielberg’s name was once attached to it. Due to the delay, he left, after which the contenders were Greengrass and Ben Stiller.

     

    Greengrass’ next movie is Captain Phillips. He is represented by CAA.

  • DreamWorks, Spielberg plan to revive John Steinbeck’s ‘The Grapes Of Wrath’

    DreamWorks, Spielberg plan to revive John Steinbeck’s ‘The Grapes Of Wrath’

    MUMBAI: DreamWorks is in talks with the estate of author John Steinbeck to make a new version of The Grapes Of Wrath. The novel was turned into a classic 1940 film by John Ford, the director who won one of two Oscars out of the seven nominations the picture received.

    DreamWorks confirmed that Spielberg is only going to be producing the picture, and will absolutely not direct it. It might be awkward turf since director Ford was one of Spielberg‘s formative influences. There is some rationale to this, if DreamWorks was looking to capitalise on the 75th anniversary of Steinbeck‘s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel. That anniversary happens next year, and Spielberg is next committed to directing Jason Hall‘s adaptation of American Sniper with Bradley Cooper starring.

    For those who haven‘t read it in high school, The Grapes Of Wrath is about a poor family of tenant farmers forced to move off its land in Oklahoma because of drought and hopeless economic conditions. Spurred by the promise of high wages for farm workers, the Joads head to California, but are beaten down by poverty and hunger in the Great Depression. The film introduced the defiant and tragic protagonist Tom Joad (played by Henry Fonda), who has been an enduring symbol for social reform.

    Among those chasing the book were Robert Redford, whose Sundance label was looking to partner with Dark Shadows producer David Kennedy to turn The Grapes Of Wrath into a miniseries at FX. That was until Spielberg came in with the feature and convinced the Steinbeck estate this was the way to go. The rights to the classic novel come with complications, however. Fox made the original film and even though the domestic rights reverted back to the Steinbeck estate, the foreign rights to the film are controlled by that studio.

  • DreamWorks Studios bags the rights for Haig’s trilogy ‘The Fire Sermon’

    DreamWorks Studios bags the rights for Haig’s trilogy ‘The Fire Sermon’

    MUMBAI:DreamWorks has acquired the much coveted book series, The Fire Sermon by Francesca Haig. The poet and short story writer, Haig has authored The Fire Sermon which is the first of a series that promises to pave the way for a successful trilogy series.

    The Big screen adaptation will be produced by Carla Hacken, one of her first deals as a producer for the studio.

    The plot of the Haig‘s book is unique and gripping; based on post nuclear apocalypse era with no technologies aiding the humans having twins. The bond between the twins is intriguing with one of each pair is physically perfect, and known as Alphas, while the other, the Omega, bears some mutation. The apartheid society forces the mutated twins to settlements, even though when one twin dies, so does the other.

    Deadline also reports that the author has penned two more books hoping for a trilogy series.

    The demand for the adaptation buzzed around Hollywood when over six publishers rushed for the UK publishing rights. It however landed up with Voyager, the fantasy imprint of HarperCollins that publishes George R.R. Martin‘s books. A US auction is also being scheduled by July 10.

  • YouTube says TV is passe; announces 1 bn unique visitors per month

    YouTube says TV is passe; announces 1 bn unique visitors per month

    MUMBAI: For long, traditional linear TV professionals have been kind of pooh-poohing the emergence of YouTube as a challenge to their traditional business model and as the destination for video consumption. Google executive chairman Eric Schmidt however cautions TV executives that the TV vs YouTube – if ever there was one – is over and has conclusively swung in favour of the online streaming portal.

    Speaking to advertisers in New York on Wednesday night at an initiative titled NewFronts (digital media‘s version of the TV tradition of promoting programming and selling ads); he disclosed that YouTube was now crossing a billion visitors a month. Last month‘s figures from YouTube claimed that almost one of every two people on the World Wide Web now uses the video streaming site, making it the third largest country in the world behind China and India.

    Google executives at the event said that visitors are watching more than six billion hours of video content on YouTube every month. That‘s a humungous number, which equals to one hour a month for every human on earth. Just three months ago, the figure was four billion. Schmidt expects the figure to go up soon and told attendees to wait “till the numbers rise to six to seven billion. The future is now for YouTube,” he said.

    Executives point out that a good proportion of the visitors are those under forty – the connected to the internet generation; and that there is no better medium to reach out to them than YouTube.

    “I thought that YouTube was like TV, but it isn‘t. I was wrong,” said YouTube‘s global head of content Robert Kyncl, “TV is one-way. YouTube talks back. TV means reach. YouTube means engagement.” He further added.

    Schmidt explained that YouTube is not a replacement for something we know. “It‘s a new thing that we have to think about, to program, to curate and build new platforms,” he pointed out.

    DreamWorks CEO Jeffrey Katzenberg made an appearance at the event to announce that his company had earlier in the day signed a deal to acquire AwesomenessTV, a popular teen focused YouTube network, for $33 million.

    YouTube meanwhile brought in its troops to coax brands to snap up media on the site, put in sponsorship dollars behind it and build channels. They cited a study saying that brands “that invest about 10 per cent to 15 per cent of their media budget on YouTube post a one per cent to three per cent sales rise.

  • DreamWorks Experience to unveil in Macao, China

    DreamWorks Experience to unveil in Macao, China

    MUMBAI: As part of a new partnership between DreamWorks Animation and Sands China, the studio will debut its DreamWorks Experience at the Sands Cotai central resort in Macao beginning 1 July. With the new license agreement, popularly known characters Shrek the ogre, Po the panda and other characters will appear, as reported by the Hollywood Reporter.
     
    The DreamWorks Experience will see characters from Kung Fu Panda, How to Train Your Dragon, Shrek and Madagascar attending events, shows and other offerings throughout Cotai strip resorts on the Sands Cotai Central and the Venetian Macao properties. It is supported on a wide range by the Macao Government tourist office.
     
    "All of us at DreamWorks Animation are excited to bring the DreamWorks Experience to this amazing integrated resort city," said DreamWorks Animation CEO Jeffrey Katzenberg.
     
    "Sands China is pleased to bring the hugely popular DreamWorks Experience to Macao," said Sands China president and CEO Edward Tracy.

  • The Croods rakes in Rs 43 mn at Indian BO in opening weekend

    The Croods rakes in Rs 43 mn at Indian BO in opening weekend

    MUMBAI: Fox Star Studios and DreamWorks‘ animated film ‘The Croods‘ has collected Rs 43.1 million in its opening weekend in India as a result of positive word of mouth.

    This is the sixth release by Fox Star Studios in 2013. The film‘s opening figures are the biggest weekend for a non- franchise animation film also making it the fourth biggest animation opener in India. Other animated films to have received such a response at the Indian box office are Ice Age 4, Kung Fu Panda 2 and Madagascar 3.
     
    Fox Star Studios CEO Vijay Singh said, "We are delighted with the fantastic weekend opening of The Croods. With stunning visual content and power packed entertainment, it is the perfect holiday film for the entire family, and we expect the numbers to increase further during the week"
     
    Set in the prehistoric era, The Croods features the voices of Hollywood actors Nicholas Cage, Ryan Reynolds and Emma Stone. It is also the first DreamWorks Animation project to be distributed by Fox after the former‘s arrangement with Paramount Pictures ended in 2012.

  • DreamWorks acquires film rights for ‘The Good Luck of Right Now’

    DreamWorks acquires film rights for ‘The Good Luck of Right Now’

    MUMBAI: DreamWorks Studios has acquired the film rights to Matthew Quick‘s latest work entitled ‘The Good Luck of Right Now‘.

    The story follows the intertwined lives of four people, who are all outsiders in their own right. However, in the wake of grieving over pain and loss in their lives, they come together to form the most unlikely family.

    Harper-Collins pre-empted the manuscript for publishing in the US and Canada. They are targeting Spring 2014 to launch the book.

    “We immediately sparked to Matthew Quick‘s book and the heart and humor which is infused in his storytelling,” said DreamWorks Studios President of Production Holly Bario. “All of us at DreamWorks are excited to begin developing this story and look to make it a priority at the studio.”

    The studio has also acquired the rights of Quick‘s young adult novels ‘Boy 21‘, ‘Forgive Me, Leonard Peacock‘, and ‘Sorta Like a Rock Star‘.

    Matthew Quick is represented by CAA in conjunction with Douglas Stewart of Sterling Lord Literistic, who simultaneously negotiated the publishing rights for the book to Harper Collins.

  • GroupM agrees to acquire majority stake in Filmworks China

    MUMBAI: WPP has announced that its wholly-owned operating company GroupM, WPP’s global media investment management arm, has agreed to acquire Filmworks China, an entertainment marketing agency in China, subject to regulatory approval.

    Founded in 2010, Filmworks’ service offering includes marketing of entertainment media properties, merchandise licensing, tie-in promotion, product placement and celebrity endorsements. It has a blue-chip client list that includes Electronics Arts, DreamWorks, TCL Television, Li Ning and Yili Group.

    Filmworks’ unaudited revenues for the year ended 31 December 2011 were approximately RMB 12 million, with gross assets at the same date of approximately RMB 11 million.

    This investment continues WPP’s strategy of developing its services in fast-growing and important markets and sectors. WPP has been committed to the Greater China region for over 20 years. Greater China remains one of the fastest growth markets for the company and is currently WPP’s third largest market with revenues of $1.3 billion and 14,500 people (including associates).

  • DreamWorks in talks to acquire feature film rights to Stedman’s debut novel

    DreamWorks in talks to acquire feature film rights to Stedman’s debut novel

    MUMBAI: DreamWorks Studios co-chairman and CEO Stacey Snider has revealed that it is in exclusive talks to acquire the feature film rights to M.L. Stedman‘s debut novel "The Light Between Oceans".
    Heyday Films‘ David Heyman (Harry Potter series, Gravity) will produce the film adaptation along with Jeffrey Clifford. Rosie Alison, who brought the book into Heyday, will be the executive producer.
    The film is based on a remote Australian island in the years following World War I, where a lighthouse keeper and his wife are faced with a moral dilemma when a boat washes ashore with a dead man and a two-month-old infant. When they decide to raise the child as their own, the consequences of their choice are devastating.
    "M.L. Stedman has crafted a visually stunning and emotionally harrowing love story with a confounding moral dilemma at its center," said Stacey Snider in the media. "We were completely transfixed by the story and instantly imagined it as a sweeping, classic film. David Heyman is an ideal partner to bring Stedman‘s story to the screen," he added.
    "I was deeply affected by M. L. Stedman‘s powerful and primal story of human choices and their consequences," said Heyman. "It‘s a novel which tackles grand emotions, but everything is rooted within an intimate yet universal story of marital and parental love. I am excited to be working with such sympathetic partners in Stacey and the team at DreamWorks."
    ‘I‘m both thrilled and incredibly honored that filmmakers of the caliber of DreamWorks and David Heyman are combining their brilliance in plans to bring the book to the big screen," said Stedman.
    ‘The Light Between Oceans‘ was published in the United States in July 2012 by Scribner and has appeared on both the New York Times and USA Today‘s bestseller lists, and others internationally, as well as being selected as Amazon‘s Best Book of the Month for August. It is due to be translated into nearly 30 languages.
    Negotiations are being handled by Nick Marston of Curtis Brown in association with Sue Armstrong of Conville and Walsh.