ITV

Tag: Paramount

  • Paramount rearranges releases

    Paramount rearranges releases

    MUMBAI: Paramount has rearranged its release calendar. Through this move, the studio has preponed the release of the Tom Cruise starrer One Shot from February next year to 21 December this year.

    As a result of the rearranging, the studio has postponed the release of the Brad Pitt zombie action film World War Z to 21 June, 2013. The film was earlier scheduled to release on the day when One Shot will now release.

    Paramount vice chairman Rob Moore said it made perfect sense to reposition One Shot considering how well Ghost Protocol did. He also said One Shot, directed by Christopher McQuarie, will be done before World War Z.

    Ghost Protocol grossed $688.8 milion worldwide and was a franchise best. It also helped to restore Cruise‘s star status in the U.S..

    Based on Lee Child‘s best-selling book, One Shot is about an investigator drawn into the case of a former military sniper who is charged with killing five people.

    Another major headline from the studio is that its Nickelodeon label is reviving the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles film franchise that Jonathan Liebesman will direct that Michael Bay is producing.

  • Hopkins, Mirren play Hitchcock and wife in film

    Hopkins, Mirren play Hitchcock and wife in film

    MUMBAI: Anthony Hopkins has been signed to play Hitchcock in Fox Searchlight’s Alfred Hitchcock and the Making of Psycho while Helen Mirren will play the filmmaker‘s wife Alma Reville.

    On the other hand, Scarlett Johannson has also joined the cast of the film that is being directed by Sacha Gervasi (Anvil! The Story of Anvil fame). Johannson will play Janet Leigh, the actress whose chilling shower scene became one of the most iconic in film history.

    The film is based on the non-fiction book by Stephen Rebello that tracks how Hitchcock, at the height of his game as a director, decided to make a "lowly" horror movie. No studio wanted to touch it initially, so Hitchcock scrounged for financing by himself. The movie, of course, became one of his biggest hits and one of the most influential of all time.
     
    The project was earlier in development at Paramount for four years. Montecito Picture Co., which has a first-look deal with Paramount and set it up there in 2007, remains on board as producer. At the center of the script by John McLaughlin (Black Swan) and Rebello is the relationship between Hitchcock and his wife.

    Scarlett Johannson is joining the cast of Alfred Hitchcock and the Making of Psycho, a behind-the-scenes drama being directed by Sacha Gervasi (Anvil! The Story of Anvil), sources confirm to THR. She will play Janet Leigh, the actress whose chilling shower scene became one of the most iconic in film history.

  • Paramount to screen Godfather for a day

    Paramount to screen Godfather for a day

    MUMBAI: As part of a pact between Paramount Pictures and the Cinemark theatre chain, a restored print of Francis Ford Coppola’s Oscar-winning The Godfather is to be screened on 1 March at 55 Cinemark XD theatres in the US.

    Archivist Robert Harris and Gordon Willis, the film’s original cinematographer, have overseen the restoration of the best picture-winner, which has been re-mastered with 5.1 digital surround sound.

    Cinemark also plans to screen The Godfather Part II on its XD screens on 19 April.

  • Summit, Lionsgate resume merger talks

    Summit, Lionsgate resume merger talks

    MUMBAI: Two of Hollywood‘s biggest independent producer/distributors Summit Entertainment and Summit Entertainment have resumed talks about a merger.

    The two film distributors have had several merger talks in the past but things didn‘t proceed as issues of how much each was worth and who would end up in charge of the combined company could not be worked out.

    While both of them are among the strongest independent film distributors who compete with major studios like NBC Universal, Warner Bros. and Disney, the two companies differ on many issues.

    Summit, which is privately held, has been in the domestic distribution business since 2007, when former Warner Bros. and Paramount executive Rob Friedman joined the company.

    Summit has had a mixed record with its movies except for the Twilight franchise, which produced more than $1 billion in box office sales even before the current release. Part 2 of Breaking Dawn is scheduled for release in November 2012.

    Lionsgate is a publicly traded company based in Vancouver with offices in Santa Monica, California. While it is active in movies, including The Expendables and a series of Tyler Perry films, it has also had considerable success in television.

    Lionsgate also has a much larger film library than Summit, with about 13,000 film and TV titles that have helped it achieve about 8 per cent of the domestic home entertainment market.

  • Transformers is Paramount’s first franchise to reach $1 bn mark

    Transformers is Paramount’s first franchise to reach $1 bn mark

    MUMBAI: Michael Bay-directed Transformers: Dark of the Moon has become the first film in Paramount Pictures‘ franchise to reach $1 billion in worldwide grosses.

    Till Tuesday, the film‘s international box office total stood at $663 million while its domestic total was $338.8 million (recorded till Monday).

    Dark of the Moon is only the 10th film in history to hit the $1 billion mark. The film‘s performance has no doubt been boosted by being the first title in the series to be shot and released in 3D. 

    "We are grateful for the extraordinary work of Michael Bay and his film-making team, executive producer Steven Spielberg, and everyone at Paramount around the globe who played a part in helping make this latest Transformers one of the 10 highest grossing films worldwide of all time," said Paramount chairman-CEO Brad Gray in a quote.
    Dark of the Moon is the third summer 2011 tentpole to hit $1 billion, after Disney‘s Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides and Warner Bros.‘ Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2.
     

  • Captain America dislodges Harry Potter

    Captain America dislodges Harry Potter

    MUMBAI: Paramount and Marvel Studios‘ Chris Evans-starrer Captain America: The First Avenger topped the domestic box office with an estimated haul of $65.8 million.


    The film did enough business to top the box-office chart ahead of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2.


    Technically, Captain America becomes the highest grossing superhero film this summer by narrowly beating the $65.7 debut of Thor. 


    Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows: Part 2, the last instalment of the boy wizard story earned $640.2 million in its second weekend having earned $214.9 million at the US box-office and $425.3 million internationally.


    With his feat, the franchise has crossed the $7 billion mark worldwide.
     
     

  • Latest Transformers-top grosser of series

    Latest Transformers-top grosser of series

    MUMBAI: With just a week gone after its release, Paramount‘s Transformers: Dark of the Moon became the top grossing film in the series, with a worldwide gross of $882.4 million this weekend.


    Dark of the Moon‘s performance has no doubt been helped by being the only one of the three to be released in 3D.


    The original Transformers grossed $709.7 million globally, while its sequel Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen roped in $836.3 million.


    The weekend tally of Dark of the Moon included $62 million in foreign grosses that was fueled by a $40 million-plus opening in China, the biggest three-day launch of all time for an American film.


    On the whole, Dark of the Moon has now earned $556.6 million at the international box office, becoming the No. 1 release in Paramount International‘s history.

  • ‘We will disrupt the market with our content, distribution and marketing strategies’ : Kulmeet Makkar- Big Music & Home Entertainment CEO

    ‘We will disrupt the market with our content, distribution and marketing strategies’ : Kulmeet Makkar- Big Music & Home Entertainment CEO

     Anil Ambani is pushing hard the home video business to complete his presence in movie production, exhibition and broadcasting business.

     

    Big Music and Home Entertainment is targeting a revenue of Rs 1 billion by the end of this fiscal. The company has signed up four big Hollywood studios – Warner Bros, Universal, Paramount and DreamWorks SKG – for home video distribution, controlling 60 per cent of Hollywood content. The content strategy is also to grab rights for big ticket Bollywood movies.

     

    In an interview with Gaurav Laghate, Big Music and Home Entertainment CEO talks about the company’s growth plans.

     

    Excerpts:

    Why is the home video market still to explode despite the entry of several players?
    The home video market, which is a huge revenue spinner in developed markets, is yet to take off in India. In the US, this segment contributes to 55 per cent of the total filmed entertainment revenues.

     

    In India, this figure is not even six to seven per cent. Due to several reasons including piracy, home video is a very small segment. India is purely a theatrical dominated movie market.

    How does India shift to a strong home video market?
    There are several issues which need to be addressed in a country where the pirated market is as high as 85 per cent. The distribution system is also largely music-driven – the music companies are also home video companies. We need to change this as the profile of the home video audience is different from the audio music buyers.

     

    The hardware penetration of VCDs and DVDs is still not good. Home video companies also need to spend more money on marketing and distribution. This is beginning to happen and we will grow exponentially in the next few years. There are estimates that the Rs 8.3 billion market will grow to a size of Rs 15 billion by 2011-12.

     

    There is also a much disorganised movie rental market which is again driven by a high level of piracy. Only recently large operators like Bigflix, Seventymm and Nimbus have come up. This is good news for the sector as we will have more organised players in the rental business.

    Isn’t Bollywood still dominating the home video business?
    Bollywood and regional home video content garner around Rs 7 billion. The biggest player in the domestic market is Moser Baer, followed by Shemaroo and TSeries. In the Hollywood movie front, which fetches Rs 1.3 billion, we have rights to 60 per cent of the content.

    Will the home video market benefit from increased competition?
    The market will expand as more organised players step in. The focus will be on better distribution, marketing and packaging.

     

    So far, the video market has not been handled in an organised way. There was a 16-18 week window between the theatrical and home video release of a movie. Obviously, that window is shrinking now and consumers are getting to watch films through the home video chain much earlier.

     

    There is also better and more filmed content coming in as movie production companies are scaling up. The content availability on home video will, thus, be more.

    With prices dropping to the bottom of the pit, are businesses becoming unviable?
    Every company has its own business model. For Moser Baer, it makes sense to compete at low prices because they have a DVD manufacturing plant.

     

    Reliance also believes in mass distribution at a good and affordable price. Our strategy is to have various segments of content. We believe in premium content.

     

    For Hollywood content distribution in India, we have partnered with four studios – Warner Bros, Paramount, DreamWorks SKG and Universal. We have acquired rights of Ironman, Hulk, Babe, Indiana Jones, Kung Fu Panda, The Dark Knight, Sex and the City, Mama Mia, among others. We are launching these films by January.

     

    We believe in creating or acquiring content which is premium, then localising it, and selling it at an affordable price. Indiana Jones in English, for example, will be sold with great packaging, value-added content and at a price which the target audience will not mind to pay.

     

    We will release the dubbed version in different languages – Hindi, Tamil, Telugu and Malayalam. The pricing will be around one-third of the English version content.

    We want to disrupt the market with our content, distribution and aggressive marketing. We will be promoting home video content as if we are marketing the film. We will not just be playing the pricing game. Pricing doesn’t drive the business, quality does.
    ‘We are looking at a turnover of Rs 1 billion by the end of this fiscal. About Rs 700 million will come from the home video segment‘

    Will you have a differential pricing model?
    Yes, this is a global practice. During launch, you will have a certain price; you will bring this down three weeks down the line. Welcome was initially priced at Rs 149 per DVD, and later we brought it down to Rs 49.

    What kind of promotions are you planning?
    It will be related to the size of the product. Today in home video, there is hardly any promotional spend. We are going to market this through TV, print, internet, out-of-home, on-ground and FM radio. We are taking a 360-degree approach.

    You have signed licensing deals with four major studios which were with Saregama. You also were a part of Saregama at that time…
    Reliance is a huge brand in India and outside. It is because of this that we got to ink these deals. We will also be pitching for Fox and Disney once their contract gets over with Excel.

    Do you have given a minimum guarantee (MG) or revenue share arrangement with the studios?
    We have given a MG to the studios. A certain part of it is also on an agreed revenue share proportion.

    How much will the home video segment contribute to Big Music and Home Entertainment?
    We are looking at a turnover of Rs 1 billion by the end of this fiscal. About Rs 700 million will come from home video, while music labels will contribute Rs 300 million. As ours is more of a new content company, 50 per cent of our music sales will be in digital (mainly mobile) form.

     

    We have Big Music, Big Home Video, Big Talent, and Big Music Publishing under the same company.

     

    The business model of Big Music Publishing will be announced soon while we have already rolled out Big Talent.

    What is the size of the music industry?
    The music industry is pegged at Rs 9 billion, of which Rs 6.5 billion still comes from physical sales while Rs 2.5 billion comes from digital sales.

     

    Piracy is hurting digital sales with file sharing, iPods etc. There is also leakage as the licensing business is not yet formalised.

    What is the content strategy for the company?
    We plan to acquire 40-50 per cent of the top ten films of Bollywood every year. We have acquired Welcome, Jodhaa Akbar, Singh is Kinng and Rock On.

     

    So far as music goes, Bollywood would still be the driver content. The new model which we are working on is artist management – we work with them not just on the music, but also build them as brands. We have signed Hard Kaur not only for albums and films; she will also be with us for live performances, events, brand endorsements, appearances on TV and radio.

     

    As a group, we can drive on the synergies. We can put an artist on Big FM or on our TV channels when they roll out. We also have Reliance mobile, Zapak and Big Pictures where we can promote them.
  • Paramount debuts films on iTunes

    Paramount debuts films on iTunes

    MUMBAI: Paramount Pictures has announced the debut of hit movies on the online iTunes Store.

    From this month, movie fans will be able to choose from over 100 movies from Paramount Pictures, Paramount Classics, MTV Films, and Nickelodeon Movies. Titles from Paramount Vantage will be available later in the year.

     
    The titles and genres includes comedies such as School of Rock and Zoolander, action-thrillers such as A Sum of All Fears and The Italian Job, classics such as Chinatown and Breakfast at Tiffany’s and science-fiction favorites such as the first six Star Trek movies. These movies are available for purchase and download for $9.99 and can be viewed on a computer or fifth generation iPod.

     
    Paramount chairman and CEO Brad Grey says, “Paramount is excited to offer hit movies on the iTunes Store. We think iTunes customers are going to love the wide range of titles to choose from, and we look forward to partnering with Apple to make more great Paramount content available in the future.”

    Apple CEO Steve Jobs says, “We’re thrilled to add these hit movies and classic titles from Paramount to the growing iTunes movie library. iTunes is the largest online video store in the world with over 1.3 million movies sold to date.”

  • MTV and Nickelodeon to take on larger role at Paramount

    MTV and Nickelodeon to take on larger role at Paramount

    MUMBAI: Viacom Inc.s has announced that MTV and Nickelodeon will become full labels under the Paramount Motion Picture Group (PMPG) as part of a new structure designed to deepen their already successful track record with their core target audiences.

    The two former production companies, which previously operated as on-lot producers, will now join several other labels under PMPG’s umbrella, including Paramount Pictures, DreamWorks SKG, Paramount Vantage and Paramount Classics.

    “After successful 12-year stints as production companies at Paramount, we are going to upgrade MTV and Nick to full movie label status,” says Viacom president & CEO Tom Freston.
    “This will expand their role at Paramount, will better leverage their considerable talent and marketing capabilities, and will allow for smoother day to day management on the lot with strong connections back to the core brands. This move plays perfectly to our company’s unique strengths and will surely increase the positive momentum that we’re seeing at Paramount under the leadership of Brad and his team.”

    “MTV and Nickelodeon are two of the strongest brands in entertainment reaching families and young adults,” says Paramount Pictures Corporation chairman & CEO Brad Grey. “We look forward to great films and a great future with these two new labels at the Paramount Motion Picture Group.”

    “In partnership with Paramount, this new model represents a great opportunity to build on the growing success we’ve experienced making movies over the last decade,” adds MTV Networks chairman & CEO Judy McGrath. “We believe that together we can take these brands to the next level, attract the best talent and material across genres, and really tap into our strong relationships with kid, teens, young adults and families around the globe.”

    Additionally, Paramount and MTV Networks named veteran producer Scott Aversano President of MTV Films and Nick Movies, giving him responsibility for film development, production and acquisitions for the two film labels. Aversano will work on the lot, reporting to Paramount Pictures president Gail Berman. On all image- and brand-related matters for these pictures, he will also report to MTV Networks Music Group president Van Toffler and Nickelodeon and MTV Networks Kids and Family Group president Cyma Zarghami, states an official release.

    Aversano will assume his new position effective immediately, transitioning from his current role as an independent producer for Paramount Pictures. Prior to his producing deal with Paramount Pictures, Aversano spent more than seven years with producer Scott Rudin, most recently as president of Production, the release adds.

    “MTV and Nickelodeon are household names with audiences in every corner of the world,” says Aversano. “I’m excited to embark on this new challenge to continue bringing movies to the marketplace that utilize Viacom’s unique strengths in targeted demographics.”

    MTV Films and Nick Movies will continue to release films targeted to their respective demographics; with Nick Movies releasing animated and family films, and MTV Films focusing on comedies, documentaries, urban fare and horror films for teens and young adults.