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Tag: Universal Pictures

  • Universal Pictures to release teen horror flick ‘Unfriended’ in India on 1 May

    Universal Pictures to release teen horror flick ‘Unfriended’ in India on 1 May

    MUMBAI: Introducing a new genre of online horror films, Universal Pictures’ India is all set to release Unfriended in India on 1 May, 2015.

     

    Unfriended is a one of its kind horror movie “set” entirely on the characters’ computer screens exploring the ugly side of the online generation. The movie premiered at the Fantasia Festival to rave reviews and audience reactions.

     

    Unfriended is the classic tale of an online prank gone awry. The movie unfolds over a teenager’s computer screen as she and her friends are stalked by an unseen figure who seeks vengeance for a shaming video that led a vicious bully to kill herself a year earlier. 

     

    Starring Shelley Hennig, Moses Jacob Storm, Renee Olstead, Will Peltz, Jacob Wysocki, Courtney Halverson and Heather Sossaman, the movie is conceived by Timur Bekmambetov and directed by Levan Gabriadze.

     

  • STX Entertainment, Universal Pictures sign home entertainment deal

    STX Entertainment, Universal Pictures sign home entertainment deal

    MUMBAI: Motion picture and television studio STX Entertainment and Universal Pictures Home Entertainment have entered into a multi-year partnership in which Universal will handle all marketing, sales and distribution services for Blu-ray, DVD, Electronic Sell-Through and TVOD platforms of STX Entertainment’s theatrical titles across North America.

     

    STX Entertainment, which handles its own production, marketing and distribution of its theatrical projects, is ramping up quickly and recently revealed it will release 12-15 major motion pictures a year beginning in 2016.

     

    STX Entertainment Motion Picture Group chairman Adam Fogelson said, “Universal has one of the most aggressive and inventive home entertainment teams in the industry. Their philosophy of being platform agnostic and allowing for growth in new and emerging areas of delivery is very exciting. We could not have more confidence in their ability to represent STX Entertainment’s new catalogue of motion pictures in the home entertainment marketplace.”

     

    Universal Pictures president and chief distribution officer Peter Levinsohn added, “STX will be an excellent complement to Universal’s exceptional portfolio of diverse home entertainment distribution partners. Robert Simonds is one of the most innovative and accomplished professionals in the film business and we are thrilled to join forces with him and his veteran team of talented executives in what we expect will be a long and successful collaboration.”

     

    This Universal agreement marks the second partnership announced by STX Entertainment, who in January of this year closed a multi-year output agreement with Showtime Networks to bring motion pictures distributed theatrically by STX exclusively to Showtime Networks during the premium television window. The deal covers the studio’s theatrical releases through 2019.

     

    STX has been ramping up production on its film slate and recently announced the first four motion pictures it will release theatrically. On 31 July, 2015, the studio will debut The Gift, a contemporary psychological thriller from Jason Blum’s Blumhouse, directed by Joel Edgerton and starring Jason Bateman, Rebecca Hall and Edgerton. Secret in Their Eyes will be released on 23 October, 2015. The thriller is written and directed by Billy Ray and stars Chiwetel Ejiofor, Nicole Kidman and Julia Roberts. On 22 January, 2016, STX will release The Boy, a horror film from director William Brent Bell, written by Stacey Menear and starring Lauren Cohan. And 11 March, 2016, brings the release of the epic action-drama The Free State of Jones, starring Matthew McConaughey, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Keri Russell and Mahershala Ali from writer-director and four-time Academy Award nominee Gary Ross.

  • Etihad Airways & Universal Pictures unveil ‘Fast & Furious’ plane

    Etihad Airways & Universal Pictures unveil ‘Fast & Furious’ plane

    MUMBAI: Etihad Airways and Universal Pictures unveiled the luxury Fast & Furious 777 airliner at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX). Actor/producer Vin Diesel was on hand as Etihad Airways Flight 171 arrived from Abu Dhabi to kick off the global junket and world premiere of Furious 7. The film arrives in theaters on 3 April.

     

    Representing a welcome first for the franchise, the Fast & Furious 777 will fly the direct route between Abu Dhabi and Los Angeles, which Etihad Airways opened in June 2014. The airline is also a sponsor of the Furious 7 world premiere, which takes place in Los Angeles on 1 April.

     

    As the United Arab Emirates offered an opportunity to inject striking elements and locales into the series’ mythology, Abu Dhabi became a key location for the Furious 7 production. Over the course of two weeks in April 2014, the team lensed in areas outside Abu Dhabi in the Liwa Desert, as well as in the city center at such locations as the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque, Emirates Palace hotel, the Yas Marina F1 race circuit and the Etihad Towers. Considering Abu Dhabi’s striking skyline—one accentuated with stunning architectural achievements—aerial shots of the skyscrapers were mandatory.

     

    “Etihad Airways is one of the fastest-growing airlines in the world with a strong history of culture and innovation and a commitment to reimagining the travel experience for our guests. We are pleased to work together with Universal, an organization that shares that same spirit of innovation and reimagination when it comes to the world of entertainment, to unveil our newly-decaled Boeing 777 aircraft in support of the Fast & Furious franchise and Furious 7, which premieres next month and highlights our airline’s home of Abu Dhabi,” said Etihad Airways chief commercial officer Peter Baumgartner.

     

    “When we began filming The Fast and the Furious in 2000, if you told me that we would one day have our logo on a wide-body jet, I would have said you were crazy. We are so honored that Etihad has partnered with us to support this very personal film, and we thank the people of the United Arab Emirates for all the kindness and graciousness they showed throughout production,” said producer Neal H. Moritz, who has shepherded all seven films in the series.

     

    The Fast & Furious decal will remain on the plane for the next four to six months.

  • Censor Board bans ‘Fifty Shades of Grey’ in India

    Censor Board bans ‘Fifty Shades of Grey’ in India

    MUMBAI: It finally official. Fifty Shades of Grey will not see an India release. According to media reports, the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) has said that they will not allow the film to be shown in cinemas as fans had eagerly waited for the release of the film in India.

     

    Fifty Shades of Grey was first screened at the 65th Berlin International Film Festival on 11 February, 2015. The film was released in 75 IMAX screens across the US on 13 February, 2015.

     

    Central Board of Film Certification Shravan Kumar did not mention the reasons for which the panel refused to approve the film adaptation. He though went on to add that the Comcast Corp unit that released the Universal Pictures film could appeal the decision. 

     

    Sources said that the board had objected to the film’s dialogue, even after Universal had made voluntary edits to the film to bring down its raunchy sex scenes and removed some forms of nudity.

     

    The film so far has grossed more than $400 million in global ticket sales. However, countries like Malaysia, Indonesia and Kenya have banned the film in their theaters for its sexual content.

  • ‘Fifty Shades of Grey’ seduces box office with $239.7 million

    ‘Fifty Shades of Grey’ seduces box office with $239.7 million

    MUMBAI: Universal Pictures’ erotica movie Fifty Shades of Grey has seduced the global box office with stupendous collections of $ 239.7 million in its opening weekend. 

     

    According to Rentrak’s box office estimates for the weekend of 15 February, 2015, the movie collected a whopping $81.7 million at the box office in North America.

     

    Rentrak senior media analyst Paul Dergarabedian said, “Universal’s erotic drama Fifty Shades of Grey felt the love from audiences as it earned a whopping $239.7 million around the globe this weekend. Generating an impressive $158 million in 58 international territories (and $81.7 million in North America), this is Universal’s second biggest international opening weekend ever behind Fast & Furious 6 at $160.3 million. Also impressive is the super cool Kingsman: The Secret Service from Fox that in its second weekend internationally took no prisoners with $23.1 million in 38 territories. This combined with the $35.6 million it earned in its North American debut gives Kingsman $58.7 million for the weekend and a worldwide total to date of nearly $80 million.”

     

    The top 12 worldwide weekend box office estimates, listed in descending order, per data collected as of Sunday, 15 February, 2015, are below:

     

    1. Fifty Shades Of Grey – $239.7 million

    2. Kingsman: The Secret Service – $58.7 million

    3. Spongebob Squarepants: Sponge Out Of Water – $44 million

    4. Somewhere Only We Know – $30 million

    5. Jupiter Ascending – $25 million

    6. American Sniper – $20.1 million

    7. Big Hero 6 – $9.9 million

    8. Taken 3 – $8.3 million

    9. The Imitation Game – $7.5 million

    10. Night At The Museum: Secret Of The Tomb – $7.1 million

    11. Detective K: The Laborer’s Daughter – $6.2 million

    12. Paddington – $5.1 million

     

    The top 12 North American weekend box office estimates, listed in descending order, per data collected as of Sunday, 15 February, 2015, are below:

     

    1. Fifty Shades Of Grey – $81.7 million

    2. Kingsman: The Secret Service – $35.6 million

    3. Spongebob Squarepants: Sponge Out Of Water – $30.5 million

    4. American Sniper – $16.4 million

    5. Jupiter Ascending – $9.4 million

    6. Seventh Son – $4.2 million

    7. Paddington – $4.1 million

    8. The Imitation Game – $3.5 million

    9. The Wedding Ringer – $3.4 million

    10. Project Almanac – $2.7 million

    11. Black Or White – $2.6 million

    12. The Boy Next Door – $1.8 million

  • ‘Fast & Furious 6 proceeds to go to Paul Walker’s charity

    ‘Fast & Furious 6 proceeds to go to Paul Walker’s charity

    When the Fast and Furious actor Paul Walker passed away during an accident earlier in the week, the entire industry mourned. Now, Universal Pictures has decided to donate a portion of the proceeds from DVD sales of Fast & Furious 6 to Paul Walker’s charity.

     

    The proceeds will be donated to Paul Walker’s non-profit Reach Out WorldWide, a network of professionals with first responder skill-sets who augment local expertise when natural disasters strike in order to accelerate relief efforts. Walker founded the organisation after witnessing deficiencies in local activations following the January 2010 Haiti earthquake, and he remained passionately devoted to the charity.

     

    Fast-Furious-6-box-office“With the passing of Paul, the world has lost a man who spent a great deal of his life in service to others. We share in the deep grief of his family, friends and the countless fans who love him,” said Universal Pictures Chairman Donna Langley in a release.

     

    The actor died at the age of 40 on Saturday while in the passenger seat of a Porsche that struck a pole.

  • The Hunger Games: Catching Fire gets India release date as 29 November

    The Hunger Games: Catching Fire gets India release date as 29 November

    MUMBAI: This November, Universal Pictures will bring The Hunger Games: Catching Fire to India as it gets a date set for 29th. Starring Jennifer Lawrence, Liam Hemsworth and Josh Hutcherson, the dark adventure is the sequel to the first one – The Hunger Games.

     

    The movie directed by Francis Lawrence will be released in four languages – English, Hindi, Tamil and Telugu. This movie follows the characters’ life post the first movie. After they have returned home from the Annual Hunger Games they have to leave their family and close friends. Now the Capitol is preparing for the next edition of the games.

     

    The movie will release only one week post the worldwide launch which is on 22 November. The first movie became a blockbuster hit worldwide and the third and fourth in the series are already in the making, slated for releasing in the next two years.

  • Ted 2 gets June 2015 release date

    Ted 2 gets June 2015 release date

    MUMBAI: Universal Pictures will release the follow-up to Seth MacFarlane‘s highest-grossing original R-rated comedy of all time on 26 June 2015.

     

    MacFarlane returns as writer, director and co-star of Ted 2 along with star Mark Wahlberg from Universal and Media Rights Capital. Alec Sulkin and Wellesley Wild return as scribes.

     

    MacFarlane produces alongside Bluegrass Films’ Scott Stuber, as well as John Jacobs and Jason Clark. The first film made about $550 million worldwide after its June 2012 release

  • Jennifer Lawrence and Gary Ross team up for East of Eden

    Jennifer Lawrence and Gary Ross team up for East of Eden

    MUMBAI: A deal has been finalised between Universal Pictures and Imagine Entertainment’s Brian Grazer with the John Steinbeck estate to recreate the novel ‘East of Eden’ written by John Steinbeck.

    It will also see ‘Hunger Games’ team of Jennifer Lawrence and Gary Ross together again.

    Apparently, two movies will be made on the book. The pair is also going to be seen together in ‘Burial Rites’. The picture will go on floor for production after Ross directs his movie ‘Peter and the Starcatchers’. Lawrence also has two movies lined up- ‘The Hunger Games: Catching fire’ and ‘American Hustle’.
    The film’s executive producer is Anna Culp. The book deal was made by RWSG’s Agency’s Geoff Sanford, Jill Gillett and Elizabeth Winick Rubinstein.

  • Universal sets ‘Jurassic World’ release for 12 June 2015

    Universal sets ‘Jurassic World’ release for 12 June 2015

    MUMBAI: Universal Pictures will release Jurassic World in 3D on 12 June, 2015. Steven Spielberg is producing the big-budget dino-sequel, formerly known as Jurassic Park 4. Colin Trevorrow directs from a draft of the screenplay he wrote with Derek Connolly. Frank Marshall and Pat Crowley are producing.

     

    Its worth mentioning that the first dino-epic The Jurassic Park was recently re-released world over in 3D to generate a buzz around the next installment in the franchise. The collections were really encouraging worldwide and surely proved that this classic still connects well with audiences even today.