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Tag: New Zealand

  • Sequel of Avatar delayed

    Sequel of Avatar delayed

    MUMBAI: James Cameron‘s highly anticipated sequel to Avatar has been delayed.

    Earlier, the makers had planned to bring Avatar 2 in December 2014 followed by Avatar 3 next year but producer Jon Landau has confirmed that bringing back-to-back sequels would not be possible, it is understood.

    “We‘re not naming dates, but I think 2014 will be a tough date for us to make. It‘s about getting it right… movies make release dates; release dates don‘t make movies,” that producer has reportedly said.

    Cameron spent a lot of time and research on his recent dive to the bottom of the Mariana Trench and he was also involved in the 3D conversion of Titanic, which is said to be the cause of the delay.

    It is said that Landau had already started work on the sequels with his core team including New Zealand effects company Weta Digital that is developing an underwater motion capture system that will help Cameron explore the oceans on Pandora.

  • New Zealand’s feature film rev up 15% to $700 mn in 2011

    New Zealand’s feature film rev up 15% to $700 mn in 2011

    MUMBAI: The film industry in New Zealand finds itself in a healthier position, upping revenues by 15 per cent to $700 million in 2011.

    According to New Zealand‘s screen industry manager Hamish Hill, sales from completed works rose five-fold to $116 million and investment in film productions increased by a third.

    Besides increasing its production of films, the countrymen also watched more films with film revenue accrued from box office increasing by 6 per cent to $162 million. This was partially because of the number of 3D films on offer.

    Hill said while not every film made in New Zealand becomes a blockbuster, they can still have a big impact on the film industry. “Over a thousand businesses, both big and small, contracted services to producers of feature film projects. Thirty-five feature films were completed in the country last year,” he observed.

  • Jane Levy bags lead role in Evil Dead remake

    Jane Levy bags lead role in Evil Dead remake

    MUMBAI: Jane Levy of Suburgatory fame has won the lead role in Fede Alvarez-directed movie Evil Dead.
     
    Levy is replacing Lily Collins, who has opted out from the remake citing schedule issues.
     
    Levy will take over the role of Mia in the movie. The role was formally played by Collins.
     
    She will be casted along with Shiloh Fernandez who will play the male lead in the movie. Fernandez is no longer stranger to the woods as he was also in the horror film ‘Red Riding Hood‘, playing Peter.
     
    The production of the movie, ‘Evil dead‘ will begin sometime in March in New Zealand. The movie is slated to release on 12 April 2013.

  • Players releases in New Zealand with 11 prints

    Players releases in New Zealand with 11 prints

    MUMBAI: Abbas-Mustan’s upcoming release seems to have the biggest release in New Zealand.

    It is said that the distributors there have released the film with 11 prints in two of the biggest cinemas –Event and Hoyts-in the country

    It is said that the craze for Players has grown since it was extensively shot there. It is because of this that the film has garnered tremendous mileage.

    Starring Abhishek Bachchan, Neil Nitin Mukesh, Bobby Deol, Sikander Kher, Aftab Shivdasani, Bipasha Basu and Sonam Kapoor, the film is
    based on the 2003 Hollywood blockbuster, Italian Job.

    Forum Films, the distributor of Players in New Zealand, hopes of a huge opening in New Zealand.

    The earlier biggest release in New Zealand was that of Don2 that released with 9 prints.
     

  • Failure of Happy Feet Two results in lay-off of 600

    Failure of Happy Feet Two results in lay-off of 600

    MUMBAI: After the dismal performance of Happy Feet Two at the box-office, six hundred of the 700 employees at the Sydney-based digital production studio Dr D Studios, which was behind the animated film, have reportedly been told that they would be soon laid off.

    Happy Feet Two, a sequel to 2006‘s Academy Award-winning film Happy Feet that grossed $384.3 million off a budget of $100 million had amassed a meagre $30.3 million worldwide.

    There may be a silver lining for some of the employees in the notice. They have reportedly been offered a job at Kennedy-Miller Mitchell Films, a new company that has Dr. D Studios as a joint partnership with Omnilab Media. The company is likely to get off the ground early next year.

    Released on November 18, Happy Feet Two has not found much success. It opened in 3,606 theaters and came in second at the box office during its debut weekend after grossing $21.2 million.

    Dr. D Studios, that specialises in digital feature film production and high-end special effects, reportedly had hoped to compete with Peter Jackson‘s Weta Digital in neighboring New Zealand.

  • Samoan language film is NZ entry to Oscars

    Samoan language film is NZ entry to Oscars

    MUMBAI: 36-year old Tusi Tamasese‘s debut feature, The Orator, is New Zealand‘s first-ever entry in the foreign-language Oscar race. The film happens to be the first feature shot entirely in the Samoan language and also the first to be filmed in the South Pacific island of Upolu.

    The Orator focuses on Saili, the son of the dead village chief who has been ostracized by the community because he is a dwarf. Quiet and unassuming, Saili is forced to defend his family and way of life with nothing more than words and the power of his voice. In doing so, he claims his rightful place as chief of the community.

    Tamasese, who grew up on Upolu, the smaller of Samoa‘s two islands, says it was important that Samoa become a character in the film.

    While he wrote the script in English and translated it back into Samoan language, he says he was careful to maintain authenticity by shooting on location with a mostly untrained local cast. Capturing the rhythms and cadence of spoken Samoan were important to the film‘s plot particularly the difference between the villagers‘ everyday musical language and the orators‘ more formal speech, according to Tamasese.

    Tamasese‘s ambling, observant directing style, which he says is derived from traditional Samoan storytelling, has wowed international critics and festival audiences alike.

    Orator was showered with honors upon its premiere at the Venice International Film Festival, where it was named best film by the CinemAvvenire youth jury, took the top prize from Europe‘s art house cinemas association and received a special mention from the jurors of the Venice Horizons sidebar. And star Fiaula Sanote has picked up a best actor nomination from the Asia Pacific Screen Awards, to be handed out in November.

    Amid all of the plaudits, the soft-spoken Tamasese remains humble. He has an idea for his next project but doesn‘t want to give away details. His hope, he says, is that Orator will pave the way for a new Samoan style of filmmaking “that equally tells a Pacific Island story that the whole cinema world can understand and appreciate.”

  • Hitchcock film screened after 80 years

    Hitchcock film screened after 80 years

    MUMBAI: The White Shadow, an Alfred Hitchcock film, that was found in a garden shed in New Zealand was has been released after nearly 80 years of its making. The film was being shown at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences‘ Samuel Goldwyn Theatre.

    David Sterritt, chairman of the National Society of Film Critics, described the discovery as “one of the most significant developments in memory”.

    “These first three reels offer a priceless opportunity to study his visual and narrative ideas when they were first taking shape,” he was quoted as saying.

    The director was just 24 when he wrote, edited, designed and assistant-directed the silent film, it is understood.

    The only known print of Hitchcock‘s silent film lay in a garden shed in the North Island town of Hastings for decades. The film was part of a collection by Jack Murtagh, a cinema projectionist.
     

  • Rugby WC to drive $1.67 bn into global sports economy: MasterCard

    Rugby WC to drive $1.67 bn into global sports economy: MasterCard

    MUMBAI: The on-going Rugby World Cup 2011 could generate $1.67 billion for the global sports economy with overseas visitors to New Zealand generating $654 million, according to new research commissioned by MasterCard Worldwide.

    MasterCard‘s research – the Economic Impact on Global Rugby Part IV: Rugby World Cup 2011- finds that sport associated economic activity may be worth up to $11.7 billion to the New Zealand economy by the end of the decade.

    The research is the fourth installment in a series commissioned by MasterCard Worldwide and undertaken by the Centre for the International Business of Sport (CIBS) at Coventry University, following economic impact reports on the 2010 Six Nations and Tri Nations Rugby Tournaments and a report on Rugby‘s Emerging Markets in April.

    The latest installment examines the value of RWC 2011 by looking at the short-term commerce flow through international fans spending in bars, clubs, shops, hotels, bookmakers and inside host stadia, along with spending by sponsors and organisations on marketing in the cities around matches. It also examines the longer-term economic impacts on New Zealand‘s economy and the legacy of the Tournament as a whole.

    CIBS researcher Dave Arthur said that the tournament would stand out from its predecessors. “This Tournament will be like no other: it will attract stronger than ever interest across the world, which will in turn boost commercial interest in and activity around the event,” he said.

    The report finds that by the end of the decade, consumer expenditure in the New Zealand sports economy may be worth up to $1 billion. Increased tourism, civic sponsorship and business development resulting from the Tournament is estimated to be $1.21 billion, while the number of people working in sport-related occupations could rise to between 52,000 and 58,000 by the end of the decade, according to the report.

    Other factors likely to enhance short-term and long-term economic activity include the later time scheduling for RWC 2011 matches and the ongoing development of Rugby in emerging market countries such as Romania, which has seen a 222 per cent increase of Rugby participation since Rugby World Cup 2003, and Russia, who will be competing in their first Rugby World Cup.

    Rugby World Cup‘s enhanced brand value: The tournament will attract stronger than ever interest across the world due to the increased strength of the Rugby World Cup brand and the significance of it returning to its spiritual home-Rugby World Cup 2011 will be the first time the Tournament has returned to the same host nation and the same Final venue since 1987.

    Based on advanced ticket sales more than 95,000 international fans will be visiting New Zealand for RWC 2011, which kicked off on Friday night (September 9th). Total ticket sales, which (including domestic sales) are expected to reach 1.35 million, will generate revenue of $224.5 million for tournament organisers.

    CIBS director at Coventry University Professor Simon Chadwick said, “For the Tournament to be contested in the sport‘s spiritual home with the host nation ranked as number one in the world and among the strongest sport brands in the world, further enhances brand equity and the appeal of Rugby World Cup.

    “Rugby World Cup is one of the top global sports events in the world behind the Olympics and the FIFA World Cup. Not only will New Zealand be benefiting from its impact and legacy for years to come, but the broader global sports economy will welcome the boost that this Tournament delivers.”

    The report says the late scheduling will also offer a boost to broadcasters with a global audience of around 4 billion people expected to tune in to watch the tournament.

  • Bodyguard becomes first Bollywood film to collect Rs 1 bn in 1st week

    Bodyguard becomes first Bollywood film to collect Rs 1 bn in 1st week

    MUMBAI: Salman Khan’s Bodyguard has made the fastest run to the Rs 1 billion milestone in India’s box office history. The movie collected Rs 1.05 billion in its first week, bettering performances from other super hits like 3 Idiots and Dabaang.

    “The historic performance at the box office has been helped by the mass following of Salman Khan, the good pairing of Khan and Kareena Kapoor and the extended weekend,” Reliance Entertainment CEO Sanjeev Lamba told Indiantelevision.com.

    Reliance Entertainment carried out an aggressive campaign and chalked out a wide release of the film. “This is also the first film of Salman Khan that has got a bumper opening in the US and is doing exceedingly well in the UK, Australia and New Zealand,” added Lamba.

    In the overseas circuit, the film has grossed ?840,000 from UK and $1,051,132 from US during the extended weekend.

    Meanwhile, another film in which Reliance Entertainment is involved is doing well. The Ajay Devgn-starrer Singham has mopped up Rs 1 billion in its sixth week. The film grossed Rs 510 million in its first week.

    Said Lamba, “A hard-hitting story, the wonderful combination of director Rohit Shetty and star Ajay Devgn and some amazing action sequences have resulted in an extremely successful run for the film. Singham is the first mainstream film produced by Reliance Entertainment and we are very pleased with the results.”

  • Rare footage of Hitchcock film found in NZ

    Rare footage of Hitchcock film found in NZ

    MUMBAI: A few rare footage of Alfred Hitchcock‘s first film The White Shadow has been found in New Zealand. Hitchcock made the black and white silent film in 1923 when he was only 24 years of age.


    Three reels were found among some unidentified American nitrate prints that were left at the New Zealand Film Archive in 1989.
     
    Media reports say that David Sterritt, chairman of the National Society of Film Critics, called the find invaluable and said that it would help study the way Hitchcock‘s mind developed over the years.


    Hitchcock was the writer, assistant director, editor and production designer of the film that starred Clive Brook and Betty Compson who played the role of two twin sisters, one of whom was good and the other evil.