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Tag: Jurassic Park

  • MSM inks multi-year film content deal with NBCUniversal for Pix

    MSM inks multi-year film content deal with NBCUniversal for Pix

    MUMBAI: Multi Screen Media (MSM) has entered into a multi-year content partnership with NBC Universal International Distribution.

     

    As a result of this agreement, MSM’s English movie channel Sony Pix will now have access to Universal Pictures’ new US theatrical release. 

     

    Multi Screen Media CEO NP Singh said, “We always strive to get top quality content for our viewers. With access to Universal’s movie titles, we have put ourselves in a position to get the best movies that Hollywood has to offer. I am confident that with this deal, viewer needs will be well-met and their enhanced movie experience will steadily increase viewer loyalty to Sony Pix – our English movie channel.”

     

    NBC Universal has had a landmark year in 2015 and is the first studio ever to have three films namely Minions, Jurassic World and Fast & Furious 7 each cross over the $1 billion mark in the worldwide box office in a single year.

     

    The studio also recently passed the $5.53 billion mark at the worldwide box office, breaking the record for highest-grossing year – ever – for a studio in industry history. The current worldwide total to date is an unprecedented $6.38 billion.

     

    This strategic multi-year deal will give Sony Pix access to Universal’s latest movie releases such as Fast & Furious 7, Jurassic World, Ted 2, Pitch Perfect 2 and Illumination Entertainment’s Minions, as well as the first installment in the studio’s various blockbuster franchises such as Jurassic Park, The Mummy, The Fast & Furious, The Hulk and Despicable Me.

     

    Sony Pix will also provide viewers with access to other hit films from the studio such as Gladiator, the first three films in the Rambo franchise, King Kong, Schindler’s List, Ted and Notting Hill amongst others.

     

    Sony Pix EVP and business head Saurabh Yagnik added, “Sony PIX is on a strong growth path and our objective is to consistently operate in the top two slots of the category. We strive to keep our audience amazed with investment in the right content and continuously innovate to break clutter. We have been aggressively strengthening our library through the right investments and our existing long-term deals with Sony Pictures Entertainment, MGM and Lionsgate have been successful. Now, our association with NBCUniversal is another step in consolidating our leadership position.”

     

    NBC Universal International Distribution & Networks president Belinda Menendez  said, “With one of the world’s fastest growing major economies, we see tremendous growth potential in India and this deal reinforces how important this market is to NBC Universal. Further, we have always had a wonderful relationship with MSM/Sony PIX and are thrilled to partner with them to expand our reach in India and bring Universal’s new blockbuster hits and beloved library titles to their viewers in India.”

  • Star Movies launches weeklong creature based film fest

    Star Movies launches weeklong creature based film fest

    MUMBAI: This May, Star Movies will launch a film festival of creature based movies.

     

    While Hollywood has had its share of superheroes that save the day and the city, the real thrill is in the monsters that are trying to destroy it. Creature based films have always been popular and while some have become classics and achieve cult followings among horror enthusiasts other have joined the ranks of films that are ‘so bad they’re good.

     

    On Monday, the channel will air Anacondas: The Hunt For The Blood Orchid. The film is a sequel to the blockbuster hit Anaconda. On Wednesday, thrill-seekers can settle in for an exciting night with Lake Placid: The Final Chapter, the fourth film of the franchise where high school kids are hunted by enormous crocodiles who have an affinity for human flesh.

     

    On Thursday, Steven Spielberg’s timeless film Jurassic Park will be aired, where viewers can take a tour an island theme park populated by dinosaurs created from prehistoric DNA. On Friday, the channel will air the popular classic King Kong where humanity learns that when we try force nature into serving our needs, nature turns against us.

     

    Star Movies’ Creature Festival will be held from 25 – 29 May. The movies will be aired at 9 pm.

  • Richard Attenborough, director of ‘Gandhi,’ dies at 90

    Richard Attenborough, director of ‘Gandhi,’ dies at 90

    MUMBAI: Oscar-winning British filmmaker Richard Attenborough, renowned for his critically-acclaimed biopic on Mahatma Gandhi, died on 24 August 2014 after his long illness. The death of the 90 year old was confirmed by his son, according to BBC.

     

    Paying his tribute, British Prime Minister David Cameron tweeted: “His acting in Brighton Rock was brilliant, his directing of Gandhi was stunning – Richard Attenborough was one of the greats of cinema.”

     

    In London, he was the original detective in Agatha Christie’s play The Mousetrap. On the British screen, he made an early mark as the sociopath Pinkie Brown in an adaptation of Graham Greene’s Brighton Rock (1947). His acting CV consisted movies like The Great Escape (1963), In Which We Serve (1942), Seance on a Wet Afternoon (1964) etc. To a later generation, he was well known as the scientist-entrepreneur who clones dinosaur DNA in Steven Spielberg’s Jurassic Park (1993).

     

    He won back-to-back Golden Globe Awards for best supporting actor, in The Sand Pebbles (1966), also starring McQueen, set during China’s civil war in the 1920s, and Doctor Dolittle (1967), playing Albert Blossom, a circus owner, alongside Rex Harrison as the veterinarian who talks to animals.

     

    But for most of Attenborough’s later career, his acting was sporadic while he devoted much of his time to directing. Gandhi (1982), an epic but intimate biographical film, was his greatest triumph. Gandhi was nominated for 11 Academy Awards and won eight, including best picture, best director, best cinematography, best original screenplay and best actor. The film had 430 speaking parts and used over 300,000 extras for Gandhi’s funeral. No one expected it to recoup its $22 million cost, but it wound up earning 20 times that amount.

     

    Richard Samuel Attenborough was born in Cambridge on 29 August 1923, the eldest son of Frederick Attenborough, an Anglo-Saxon scholar who became the principal of University College, Leicester, and his wife, Mary, a writer who crusaded for women’s rights and took in Basque and German refugees.

     

    Leaving school at 16, he won a scholarship to the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts and eventually married a fellow student, Sheila Sim, who became a well-known actress herself before abandoning the theater to look after their three children and become a magistrate.

     

    Attenborough leaves behind his wife, son Michael and daughter Charlotte. His eldest daughter Jane was killed alongside her mother-in-law Jane and her daughter Lucy in the 2004 tsunami.

  • Dive with Deadliest Sharks and Discover some lesser-known animals on Animal Planets marvellous

    Dive with Deadliest Sharks and Discover some lesser-known animals on Animal Planets marvellous

    MUMBAI: Nigel Marven is one of the most celebrated zoologists, wildlife adventurer, film maker and a television presenter. He has encountered killer whales, has come face to face with polar bears andhas dived with bull sharks. This November, Animal Planet brings viewers closer to animal kingdom with MARVELLOUS MARVEN, a month-long programming special in which Nigel encounters some of the world’s most interesting and sometimes misunderstood creatures.

    Starting November 04, join MARVELLOUS MARVEN on his incredible journeys,Monday to Friday at 9:00 PM on Animal Planet.

    Nigel has travelled corners of the world in search of animals, observing their natural way of life in their natural habitats.Animal Planet’s MARVELLOUS MARVEN captures hisnew quest to find-out andtackle-down some of the most unusualanimals and follows him to unravel mystery of the shark islands off Costa Rica. Viewers experience Nigel’s thrilling adventuresas he gets upclose and personal with hammerhead sharks in the vast expanses of Pacific Ocean, visits the far flung corners of Yunnan province in Southern China in search of rarest creatures like snub-nosed monkeys and tracks some awkward looking animals in Southern America.

    MARVELLOUS MARVENkicks off on November 4 with the episode Ugly Animals as Nigel devotes time to find some of the weirdest looking animals and offers a platform to demonstrate their remarkable traits. He meets a massive male ‘warthog’, bristling with hair and covered in facial lumps or warts and explains how these lumps act as shock absorbers during battles.He reveals that these odd-looking animals have certain unique features which make them successful survivors in the wild. Nigel tracks frogs, elephant seals, wolf fish, naked mole rats, storks and star-nosed moles and finds them far more fascinating than a lot of beautiful creatures often seen by viewerson theirtelevision screens.

    Nigel jets off to the Yunnan, China’s most southern-most province, which hosts over 600 rivers and most spectacular mountain landscapes. Nigel braves those inhospitable terrains to uncover some of the rarest animals in his mission Yunnan Adventure. He meets a host of peculiar creatures likered pandas, rare turtles, snub-nosed monkeys and giant salamanders, and other animals found nowhere else in the country.

    Nigel risks his life to unravel the mystery that lies beneath of waters of Cocos Island, off the coast of Costa Rica. In Shark Islands, he tickles a Reef Shark on the nose, joins a school of Hammerheads for lunch, gives a Giant Ray a bubble bath and nearly gets swallowed by a sperm whale as he begins his quest to find out why sharks come to Shark Island. As he searches for the answer he meets creatures that also call this island their home – rays, turtles, booby birds, pigs and discovers the secrets behind the island, said to be the inspiration for both Jurassic Park and Treasure Island.

    For the most deadliest adventures of Nigel Marven, tune in to MARVELLOUS MARVENMonday to Friday at 9:00 PM, only on Animal Planet.

  • 3-D re-release of Jurassic Park gets huge opening in China

    3-D re-release of Jurassic Park gets huge opening in China

    NEW DELHI: Steven Spielberg’s 1993 dinosaur spectacular Jurassic Park had a huge opening when it was released in its first 3-D version in China this week.

     

    The film made $6.64 million on its first day in cinemas.

     

    Though the film has been broadcast on television and is widely available on home video formats, this is the first time Jurassic Park has been given a wide theatrical release in China.

     

    The opening is significantly stronger than that of doomsday thriller 2012 (2009) which made $14.7 million in its first six days. The 3-D re-release of Titanic (1997) broke opening records in April 2012, grossing $76.3 million in its first six days.

     

    With 12 per cent of screening slots, Pacific Rim dropped 35 per cent early this week, taking $1.08 million. With 18 per cent of screenings, Dante Lam’s Unbeatable grossed $1.14 million for a total of $11.9 million after five days.

  • Madonna tops Forbes 2013 list of the top-earning celebrities

    Madonna tops Forbes 2013 list of the top-earning celebrities

    MUMBAI: Madonna’s latest album, MDNA, was a flop. Her 12th studio album, Madonna sold fewer than a million copies of MDNA in the US and the singles, like “Give Me All Your Luvin,” failed to impress on the pop music scene.

    But the tour that the ‘Material Girl’ launched to go along with her new album was a spectacular success. Fans didn’t flock to the stadium and spend upwards of $100 per ticket to hear Madonna’s latest stuff. They went to hear hits like “Vogue,” “Like a Virgin” and “Lucky Star.” The tour grossed $305 million and earned her the Top Touring Award at the Billboard Music Awards. Add to that strong merchandise sales, a clothing line, fragrance and investments in companies like Vita Coco and Madonna tops the list of the highest earning celebrities. It is estimates that the pop star brought in $125 million between June 2012 and June 2013.

    That’s more money than Madonna has ever earned in the time Forbes has been doing the Celebrity 100 list. The closest she came to $125 million was in 2009 when she earned $110 million.

    Madonna’s success, at age 55, just goes to show the incredible power of a successful music career. Many have accused Lady Gaga of copying Madonna’s career. The young star is certainly emulating Madonna when it comes to raking in the moolah. Gaga ranks 10th on the list of highest-paid celebrities with $80 million in earnings. She would have brought in even more than that if her tour hadn’t been cut short by a hip injury. Her latest single, “Applause,” was overshadowed last week by Katy Perry‘s latest, “Roar.” But Gaga can comfort herself with the knowledge that last year at least, she earned a lot more money than Perry who brought in an estimate $39 million.

    To compilation of the list is based on, talks with agents, managers, producers and other in-the-know folks to come up with estimates for each celebrity’s entertainment-related earnings between June 2012 and June 2013, the time frame for Forbes’ Celebrity 100 list. There is no deduction for taxes, agent fees or the other expenses of being a celebrity.

    Ranking second on the list with $25 million less than Madonna is Steven Spielberg. The director earned an estimated $100 million between June 2012 and June 2013. Most of that money comes from his extensive library. Hit movies like E.T. and Jurassic Park are always playing on TV somewhere in the world. Last year’s Lincoln was a critical and financial hit earning $275 million on a budget of $65 million. Now Spielberg’s DreamWorks is starting to show some real strength on TV. The studio’s latest show, Under the Dome, is one of the few bright spots on broadcast television.

    Author E.L. James, Howard Stern and Simon Cowell all tie for third place on Forbes’ list with $95 million each. James took the publishing world by storm with 50 Shades of Grey. The trilogy has sold 70 million copies worldwide and a movie is now in the works at Universal Studios. Stern still earns big from his contract with Sirius/XM (despite lawsuits) and Cowell is raking it in from the The X Factor and Got Talent formats which air in dozens of different countries. Stern and Cowell overlap with Got Talent. Stern is earning an estimated $15 million per year as one of the judges on America’s Got Talent.

  • Universal’s ‘Despicable Me 2? crosses $800mn worldwide

    Universal’s ‘Despicable Me 2? crosses $800mn worldwide

    MUMBAI: Universal Pictures’ Despicable Me 2 continues to rake it in around the globe. The animated sequel surpassed the $800 million mark with Friday’s estimated domestic grosses of $349.9 million and $451.4 million international bringing the worldwide take to $801.3 million.

     

    The Universal and Illumination Entertainment pic has opened at No.1 in 45 territories and is the second highest grossing pic of 2013 worldwide behind Iron Man 3. Domestically it’s No.2 and internationally only third behind Iron Man 3 and Fast & Furious 6.

     

    Last month NBCUniversal chief Steve Burke declared Despicable Me 2 the studios’ most profitable film in history; it’s also Uni’s second highest grosser of all time worldwide behind Jurassic Park.

  • 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.

  • Chinese theaters ban Despicable Me 2

    Chinese theaters ban Despicable Me 2

     MUMBAI: In an effort to thwart imported animated flicks, the government has denied permission to release the movie in the country. The previous installment was also not released in 2010.

     

    Despite the fact that an article, praising the movie’s success in the US was published, hopes of getting a release in the country were crushed. Though the movie got a good reception from Hong Kong, it won’t see the light of the day in China.

     

    Previously DreamWorks’ movie The Croods was pulled from the country’s screens two weeks early in June this year. However, Monsters University has got clearance to be released on 23 August in China. It will face competition from the 3D version of Jurassic Park.

  • Steven Spielberg, Jury President of the 66th Festival de Cannes

    Steven Spielberg, Jury President of the 66th Festival de Cannes

    “My admiration for the steadfast mission of the Festival to champion the international language of movies is second to none. The most prestigious of its kind, the festival has always established the motion picture as a cross cultural and generational medium.”

    Taking over the reins from the Italian Nanni Moretti, American director and producer Steven Spielberg agrees to head up the jury of the 66th Cannes Film Festival taking place May 15-26 this year.

    “As they say across the Atlantic”, said Gilles Jacob, President of the Festival de Cannes, “Steven Spielberg is a Cannes ‘regular’: Sugarland Express, Color Purple. But it was with E.T. that I screened as a world premiere in ‘82 that ties were made of the type you never forget. Ever since, I’ve often asked Steven to be Jury President, but he’s always been shooting a film. So when this year I was told “E.T., phone home”, I understood and immediately replied: “At last!”

    “Steven Spielberg accepted in principle two years ago”, declared Thierry Frémaux, General Delegate of the Festival. “He was able to make himself available this year to be the new Jury President and when meeting him these last few weeks it has been obvious he’s excited about the job. Because of his films, and the many causes he holds dear, he’s year-in year-out the equal of the very greatest Hollywood filmmakers. We are very proud to count him among us.”

    “The memory of my first Cannes Film Festival, nearly 31 years ago with the debut of E.T., is still one of the most vibrant memories of my career, Spielberg goes on. For over six decades, Cannes has served as a platform for extraordinary films to be discovered and introduced to the world for the first time. It is an honor and a privilege to preside over the jury of a festival that proves, again and again, that cinema is the language of the world.”

    Steven Spielberg was born in Ohio in 1946. A film enthusiast from a very young age, one of his first shorts, Amblin – got him through the doors of Universal Television which produced his first films. Success came very quickly: Duel (1971), originally made for television, was so well received that a feature length version was released in theatres.

    The first film he made for cinema, Sugarland Express, was selected for the Festival de Cannes in 1974 and won Best Screenplay.

    Following these promising auteur debuts, he had a series of international successes: Jaws (1975); Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981) and E.T. (1982) which was presented as the closing film of the Festival de Cannes and was the very last Festival screening shown in the former Palais Croisette theatre.

    In 1993, Steven Spielberg’s Jurassic Park, like many of his films, beat all records for box-office takings in the United States: his big budget entertainment movies, of great and varied inspiration, brought about a renewal of the Hollywood entertainment genre, creating new ties with the themes of adventure and sci-fi, and are hugely popular with an extremely wide audience of all ages.

    The abundant imagination that characterises Steven Spielberg and has him say of himself “I dream for a living”, is combined with boundless curiosity, a delight in innovation and a virtuoso talent for directing.

    Famous for his commercial successes, he also astonishes with his more intimate and socially engaged works which confront audiences head-on: The Color Purple (1986), Empire of the Sun (1987) and Schindler’s List (1993), which brought him the highest accolades as well as a clutch of Oscars, including Best Director.

    His filmography is a constant to and fro between dream and reality, switching from entertainment films to serious reflections on history, racism or the human condition, testimony to his hope for a peaceful, reconciled world.

    In his 40-year career, he has made 27 films, most of which are important moments in the history of world cinema: everyone has seen, or will one day see Saving Private Ryan (1998), Minority Report (2002), Catch Me If You Can (2002), War of the Worlds (2005), or the recent The Adventures of Tintin: Secret of the Unicorn (2011), his first film in 3D.

    His Lincoln, a captivating portrait of the man who abolished slavery in the United States, is currently a huge success in his own country as well as in France where it has already been seen by over a million people. The film enabled Spielberg to set Daniel Day-Lewis up for his third Oscar as Best Actor (no other actor before having accomplished this feat).