ITV

Tag: King Kong

  • Bahubali & King Kong etc aid Sony Max continuance in Top 10

    BENGALURU: This is the second week in a row after the tenth season of the Indian Premier League (IPL 10) that good movies have found a place for Sony Pictures Network (SPN) Hindi Movies channel Sony Max in the weekly top 10 channels list across genre. The Broadcast Audience Research Council of India (BARC) list of top 10 channels for week 25 (Saturday, 17 June 2017 to Friday, 23 June 2017) has Sony Max at sixth rank with 543.438 million weekly impressions, far improved from the ninth rank with 460.016 million weekly impressions for week 24. The movies Bahubali – The Beginning, King Kong, Double Attack 2 and Sooryavansham, which were among the five most watched weekly programmes in the Hindi Movies and Hindi Movies Urban markets seemed to have helped in the presence and escalation of the movie channel in a list that is generally dominated by either GECs’ or channels that air sports events aka cricket.

    Three channels from the SPN stable, two channels each from the Sun TV Networks, Viacom 18 and Zee Entertainment Enterprises Limited (Zeel) stables and one from the Star India group made it to the BARC India weekly top 10 channels across genres list for week 25 of 2017. Putting it another way – One channel each from the Tamil GEC, Telugu GEC and Hindi Movies genres and seven channels from the Hindi GEC genre made up the BARC weekly top 10 channels list for week 25.

    With the end of the ICC Champions Trophy 2017 in the early part of week 24, Star India’s Star Sports 1 Hindi exited the weekly top ten channels across genres in week 25. Sun TV continued to lead the list at first place with 1017.773 million weekly impressions, followed by Star India’s flagship Hindi GEC channel Star Plus with 640.486 million impressions at second place. Zeel’s Hindi GEC Zee Anmol was at third place with 581.906 million weekly impressions followed by SPN’s Hindi GEC women centric channel Sony Pal with 563.41 million impressions at fourth rank – a rank that the channel has retained for the third week in a row.

    Network 18 (Viacom 18) channel Rishtey was at fifth place with 550.796 million weekly impressions – this was the fourth week in a row that Rishtey maintained the fifth place in BARC’s weekly top 10 channels across genre list. As mentioned above, Sony Max was at sixth place, followed by another Viacom 18 channel – its flagship Hindi GEC – Colors with 525.45 million weekly impressions at seventh place. Colors had been ranked tenth in the previous week.

    Zeel’s flagship Hindi GEC Zee TV with 516.04 million weekly impressions was at eighth place followed by the Sun Network’s Telugu flagship GEC Gemini TV with 493.489 million weekly impressions at ninth place. SPN’s Hindi channel specializing in comedy and lighthearted drama shows – Sony Sab completed the dectet with 454.614 million weekly impressions.

  • Warner Bros, Legendary plan ‘Godzilla,’ ‘King Kong’ trilogy

    Warner Bros, Legendary plan ‘Godzilla,’ ‘King Kong’ trilogy

    MUMBAI: Following Legendary’s and Warner Bros. Pictures’ 2014 success with the global reinvention of the Godzilla franchise, the companies have come together to create an epic, new shared cinematic franchise.

     

    The initial trio of films are 2017’s Kong: Skull Island; Godzilla 2 in 2018; and then Godzilla vs. Kong, arriving in theaters in 2020.

     

    All-powerful monsters become towering heroes for a new generation, revealing a mythology that brings together Godzilla and Legendary’s King Kong in an ecosystem of other giant super-species, both classic and new. Monarch, the human organization that uncovered Godzilla in the 2014 film, will expand their mission across multiple releases.

     

    While Legendary maintains its new home at Universal Pictures, the Godzilla films remain in partnership with Warner Bros., who will now also distribute Kong as a part of this franchise. Production on Kong: Skull Island begins 19 October.

     

    Warner Bros. and Legendary released Godzilla in May 2014 with an agreement to release Godzilla 2 on 8 June, 2018. Both films feature the human Monarch organization. Shortly following Legendary’s pact with NBC Universal, Legendary acquired rights to additional classic characters from Toho’s Godzilla universe, including Rodan, Mothra, and King Ghidorah. This paved the way for developing a franchise centered around Monarch and anchored by Godzilla, King Kong, and other famous creatures.

     

    When Legendary announced films centered on Godzilla and Kong, fans all over the world speculated these two characters might one day meet in the same film. Classic Toho monsters including King Ghidorah, Mothra, and Rodan, as announced at Comic-Con 2014, may also join the Legendary pantheon of giant monster mayhem going forward.

     

    Legendary CEO Thomas Tull said, “Audiences really responded to Godzilla. Today, I’m excited to reveal that film was only the beginning of an epic new entertainment universe. As a lifelong fan of these characters, I’ve always wanted to see the ultimate showdown, and today we’re pleased to be announcing that and more.”

     

    “Working with our partners at Legendary, we enjoyed tremendous creative and commercial success with Godzilla. It’s great to be able to revisit these characters and help create a franchise with so many creative possibilities for filmmakers. Fans love these big, globally iconic films and it doesn’t get any bigger than this,” added Warner Bros Chairman and CEO Kevin Tsujihara.

     

    Kong: Skull Island stars Tom Hiddleston, Sam Jackson, Brie Larson, John Goodman, Tian Jing, Corey Hawkins, Jason Mitchell, John Ortiz, Shea Whigham, and Toby Kebbell. Directed by Jordan Vogt-Roberts and written by Max Borenstein, John Gatins, Dan Gilroy, and Derek Connolly, Kong: Skull Island will fully immerse audiences in the mysterious and dangerous home of the king of the apes as a team of explorers ventures deep inside the treacherous, primordial island. Legendary’s Thomas Tull and Jon Jashni will produce with Mary Parent. Alex Garcia and Eric McLeod will executive produce. Warner Bros. will distribute the film in 3D and IMAX 3D on 10 March, 2017.

     

    Godzilla 2 will be written by Max Borenstein and directed by Gareth Edwards. Legendary is producing with Parent, and Garcia will executive produce. The film is set to be released by Warner Bros. on 8 June, 2018.

     

    Godzilla vs. Kong will be released in 2020.

  • 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.

  • NBC Universal signs deal with UK video on demand firm FilmFlex

    NBC Universal signs deal with UK video on demand firm FilmFlex

    MUMBAI: UK video-on-demand (VOD) service provider FilmFlex has signed a multi-year licensing deal with US media conglomerate NBC Universal to offer the studio’s current and library feature films.

    FilmFlex is a joint venture between Sony, Disney and the pay-TV specialist ON Demand Group.

    The deal covers films like King Kong, The 40 Year-Old Virgin, Jarhead, Nanny McPhee and Pride & Prejudice. FilmFlex MD Andrew Keyte says, “The depth and breadth of films on offer is one of the key features that attract users to VOD. We are delighted that NBC Universal is providing some of its great movie classics and new releases for the FilmFlex service which further underpins our objective in creating the pre-eminent movie experience for cable customers in the UK.”

    FilmFlex says the deal makes it the largest movie Vod service provider in Europe, with some 500 films available at any one time.