ITV

Tag: Forest Whitaker

  • ‘Lee Daniels’ The Butler’ hits $100 million

    ‘Lee Daniels’ The Butler’ hits $100 million

    MUMBAI: The independent historical drama – headlining Forest Whitaker and Oprah Winfrey – took in $5.4 million in its fifth weekend for The Weinstein Co, pushing the movie’s North American total to a stellar $100 million.

     

    Daniels becomes one of only a handful of black directors to have a film clear that mark, not accounting for inflation.

     

    One reason for The Butler’s success is that it is playing to all audiences, according to Harvey Weinstein’s team. On opening weekend, 52 per cent of ticket buyers were black; now, 67 per cent of the audience is white. The Butler is also becoming a family play.

     

    The Butler opened in mid-August, hoping to mirror the success of The Help, another civil-rights themed drama. The Butler isn’t likely to match The Help’s lifetime domestic gross of $169.7 million, but The Help was different in featuring both black and white lead actors.

     

    In the film, Whitaker plays a White House butler who serves through eight presidential administrations, a character inspired by the real-life story of the late Eugene Allen.

     

    Winfrey, who plays the butler’s wife, has provided an enormous marketing boost for the movie because of her avid fanbase. The Butler already is considered an awards contender, particularly for Whitaker and Winfrey’s performances.

  • Forest Whitaker and Orlando Bloom in Zulu by Jérôme Salle to close the Festival de Cannes

    Forest Whitaker and Orlando Bloom in Zulu by Jérôme Salle to close the Festival de Cannes

    The 66th Festival de Cannes will close on 26th May with a screening of the thriller Zulu, shot entirely on location in South Africa by Jérôme Salle and adapted from the novel of the same name by Caryl Férey.

    The action takes place in Cape Town, in a South Africa still overshadowed by apartheid, where destitute townships rubs shoulders with affluent neighbourhoods. Two cops on the beat, Orlando Bloom (Pirates of the Caribbean by Gore Verbinski, Lord of the Rings by Peter Jackson) and Forest Whitaker (The Last King of Scotland by Kevin McDonald, Ghost Dog, La Voie du Samoura? by Jim Jarmush) are caught up in a suspenseful search which combines elements of political film noir and social study.

    Co-written by Julien Rappeneau, Zulu was produced by Richard Grandpierre (Eskwad), coproduced with Pathé, Lobster Tree and M6 Films and is to be distributed in France by Pathé, who will also handle the film’s international distribution. The score was composed by Alexandre Desplat.
    In 1988, Forest Whitaker won Best Male Actor at Cannes for his role in Clint Eastwood’s Bird.

    The 66th Festival de Cannes opens on Wednesday 15th May with Baz Luhrmann’s The Great Gatsby and with Steven Spielberg as President of the Competition Jury. The full list of films for Selection will be announced on Thursday 18th April at the traditional press conference and published online towards noon at www.festival-cannes.com

  • Thornton, Whitaker in Out of the Furnace

    Thornton, Whitaker in Out of the Furnace

    MUMBAI: Billy Bob Thornton and Forest Whitaker have signed up to play the leading villains in upcoming film Out of the Furnace.

    The 56-year-old will join Christian Bale, Zoe Saldana and Casey Affleck. The film is about a man who tracks down his brother‘s killer after he is released from prison, it is understood.

    Whitaker is also set to play a leading part in the Scott Cooper-directed picture while Thornton will play the leading bad guy in the project.

    The actor, who was married to actress Angelina Jolie for three years, is best known for roles in Sling Blade and Armageddon. He is currently filming a part in the film Red Machine.

  • MGM to honour director Oliver Stone at Cannes

    MGM to honour director Oliver Stone at Cannes

    MUMBAI: Oliver Stone will receive the first annual Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) Leo The Lion Award on 21 May at the Cannes Film Festival.

    The award will be presented to Stone by MGM chairman and CEO Harry Sloan, at a cocktail reception to be held at the Majestic Hotel.

    The award has been established to recognise and encourage artistic excellence in individuals who, through significant contributions to filmmaking, have made an indelible impact on the overall value and merit of the library of MGM released films as well as on the world’s movie going public.

    Stone’s first film on the Vietnam war – Platoon – starring Charlie Sheen, Willem Dafoe, Tom Berenger and Forest Whitaker, will have a special screening. Platoon which earned $135 million at the US box office during its 1986 release and won the Oscar for Best Picture, is celebrating its 20th anniversary.

    Sloan says, “Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer is proud of its film legacy. This year we celebrate the 20th anniversary of Oliver Stone’s Platoon. This was not just another war film. It was written and directed by a combat veteran who brought an authenticity to cinema that had not been seen before, and consequently set the standard for all other films concerning the US involvement in Vietnam. MGM is honoured that the 2006 Cannes Film Festival has scheduled a special anniversary presentation of Platoon.”

    Stone says, “Getting to make Platoon was one of the highlights of my life. To have it shown 20 years later in this great garden of cinema is a deep honour.” MGM COO Rick Sands confirmed that Oliver Stone, Charlie Sheen, Tom Berenger and Willem Dafoe who star in the film would be travelling to Cannes for the special anniversary presentation.