Tag Archives: Entertainment/Culture

“Oblivion” is the No. 1 film worldwide for the 2nd week in a row with an estimated weekend gross of $71.9 million. The worldwide cume now stands at $150.2 million. Also G.I. Joe: Retaliation passed the $200 million mark internationally, and $300 million mark worldwide, this weekend.
The top-12 domestic weekend box office estimates listed in descending order, per data collected as of Sunday, April 21, 2013 are below.
1. Oblivion – Universal – $38.2M
2. 42 – Warner Bros. – $18.0M
3. Croods, The – 20th Century Fox – $9.5M
4. Scary Movie 5 – The Weinstein Company – $6.3M
5. GI Joe: Retaliation – Paramount – $5.8M
6. Place Beyond the Pines, The – Focus Features – $4.7M
7. Olympus Has Fallen – FilmDistrict – $4.5M
8. Evil Dead – Sony – $4.1M
9. Jurassic Park – Universal – $4.0M
10. Oz The Great and Powerful – Disney – $3.0M
11. Tyler Perry’s Temptation – Lionsgate – $2.2M
12. Home Run – IDP/Samuel Goldwyn Films – $1.6M
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Johnny Depp: “The Lone Ranger” at Cinecom. Photos of Director Gore Verbinski, Johnny Depp, Armie Hammer, and Producer Jerry Bruckheimer.
In “The Lone Ranger” Native American warrior Tonto recounts the untold tales that transformed John Reid, a man of the law, into a legend of justice.

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Cannes Film Festival announces 2013 Lineup. There were 1,858 submissions this year, according to festival chief Thierry Frémaux. Some titles will be added in the coming weeks:
In Competition
Opening Film
Baz LUHRMANN THE GREAT GATSBY (H.C.)
***
Valeria BRUNI-TEDESCHI UN CHÂTEAU EN ITALIE
Ethan COEN, Joel COEN INSIDE LLEWYN DAVIS
Arnaud des PALLIÈRES MICHAEL KOHLHAAS
Arnaud DESPLECHIN JIMMY P. (PSYCHOTHERAPY OF A PLAINS INDIAN)
Amat ESCALANTE HELI
Asghar FARHADI LE PASSÉ (THE PAST)
James GRAY THE IMMIGRANT
Mahamat-Saleh HAROUN GRIGRIS
JIA Zhangke TIAN ZHU DING
(A TOUCH OF SIN)
KORE-EDA Hirokazu SOSHITE CHICHI NI NARU
(LIKE FATHER, LIKE SON)
Abdellatif KECHICHE LA VIE D’ADЀLE
(BLUE IS THE WARMEST COLOR)
Takashi MIIKE WARA NO TATE
(SHIELD OF STRAW)
François OZON JEUNE ET JOLIE
(YOUNG AND BEAUTIFUL)
Alexander PAYNE NEBRASKA
Roman POLANSKI LA VÉNUS À LA FOURRURE
Steven SODERBERGH BEHIND THE CANDELABRA
Paolo SORRENTINO LA GRANDE BELLEZZA
(THE GREAT BEAUTY)
Alex VAN WARMERDAM BORGMAN
Nicolas WINDING REFN ONLY GOD FORGIVES
***
Closing Film
Jérôme SALLE ZULU (H.C.)
Un Certain Regard
Opening Film
Sofia COPPOLA THE BLING RING
***
Hany ABU-ASSAD
OMAR
Adolfo ALIX JR. DEATH MARCH
Ryan COOGLER
FRUITVALE STATION 1st film
Claire DENIS LES SALAUDS
Lav DIAZ
NORTE, HANGGANAN NG KASAYSAYAN
(NORTE, THE END OF HISTORY)
James FRANCO AS I LAY DYING
Valeria GOLINO MIELE 1stf ilm
Alain GUIRAUDIE L’INCONNU DU LAC
Flora LAU BENDS 1st film
Rithy PANH L’IMAGE MANQUANTE
Diego QUEMADA-DIEZ LA JAULA DE ORO 1st film
ANONYMOUS
Chloé ROBICHAUD
SARAH PRÉFÈRE LA COURSE
(SARAH WOULD RATHER RUN)
1st film
Rebecca ZLOTOWSKI GRAND CENTRAL
Out of Competition
J.C CHANDOR ALL IS LOST
Guillaume CANET BLOOD TIES
Midnight Screenings
Amit KUMAR MONSOON SHOOTOUT 1st film
Johnnie TO BLIND DETECTIVE
Jerry Lewis Tribute
Daniel NOAH MAX ROSE
Special Screenings
Stephen FREARS MUHAMMAD ALI’S GREATEST FIGHT
Roberto MINERVINI STOP THE POUNDING HEART
Roman POLANSKI WEEK END OF A CHAMPION
James TOBACK SEDUCED AND ABANDONED
Cinéfondation :
Taisia IGUMENTSEVA OTDAT KONCI 1st film
(BITE THE DUST)
Gala Screening, Tribute to India
Anurag KASHYAP, Dibakar BANERJEE,
Zoya AKHTAR, Karan JOHAR BOMBAY TALKIES
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Just a few years ago, had I written a piece entitled “There are no films guaranteed to gross $1 billion this year”, you likely would have laughed and said “Of course not!”. As recently as 2010, the idea that any movie could or would gross $1 billion in worldwide ticket sales was somewhat of a pipe dream.
From 1997 to 2006, there were just two films to reach that milestone, they being Titanic (the biggest movie of all-time with a seemingly insurmountable $1.8 billion) and The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, the Oscar-winning chapter to what can be argued is the finest screen trilogy of our time (that’s a debate for another day). In 2006, we saw the powerhouse success of Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest which parlayed the unexpected popularity of the first film into an even larger haul for its sequel, breaking the domestic opening weekend record at the time ($135 million) and earning a massive $423 million in America and $642 million overseas.
In 2008, The Dark Knight pulled another “massively popular sequel to unexpectedly well-liked original” trick to the tune of $533 million in America (good for the second biggest grosser of all time in America, if only for a year) and just over $1 billion worldwide despite not playing in China due to that pesky “Chinese gangster hides Gotham mob money” subplot. 2009 saw James Cameron do that trick that James Cameron does yet again, with Avatar earning $1 billion worldwide in about seventeen days and going on to earn an eye-popping $2.7 billion.
to read more go to Mendelson’s Memos
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“Oblivion” opens at No. 1 worldwide with an estimated weekend gross of $61.1 million from 52 international markets. The film was No.1 in 48 of the 52 markets and opens in the US and Canada this coming Friday. Also, 20th Century Fox International crossed the $1 billion mark on April 12. They are the first distributor to do so in 2013 and this is the 10th year in a row they have surpassed this milestone.”
The top-12 domestic weekend box office estimates listed in descending order, per data collected as of Sunday, April 14, 2013 are below.
1. 42 – Warner Bros. – $27.2M
2. Scary Movie 5 – The Weinstein Company – $15.2M
3. Croods, The – 20th Century Fox – $13.2M
4. GI Joe: Retaliation – Paramount – $10.8M
5. Evil Dead – Sony – $9.5M
6. Jurassic Park – Universal – $8.8M
7. Olympus Has Fallen – FilmDistrict – $7.3M
8. Oz The Great and Powerful – Disney – $4.9M
9. Tyler Perry’s Temptation – Lionsgate – $4.5M
10. Place Beyond the Pines, The – Focus Features – $4.1M
11. Host, The – Open Road – $2.4M
12. Call, The – Sony – $1.9M
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The 66th Festival de Cannes will close on 26th May with a screening of the thriller Zulu, shot entirely on location in South Africa by Jérôme Salle and adapted from the novel of the same name by Caryl Férey.
The action takes place in Cape Town, in a South Africa still overshadowed by apartheid, where destitute townships rubs shoulders with affluent neighbourhoods. Two cops on the beat, Orlando Bloom (Pirates of the Caribbean by Gore Verbinski, Lord of the Rings by Peter Jackson) and Forest Whitaker (The Last King of Scotland by Kevin McDonald, Ghost Dog, La Voie du Samouraï by Jim Jarmush) are caught up in a suspenseful search which combines elements of political film noir and social study (…).
To read more go to www.festival-cannes.fr
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The 17th Annual Hollywood Film Festival (HFF), hailed by “Variety” as “the ultimate networking opportunity” and by The New York Times as “the first mandatory stop in the awards season.” A long-standing and well-respected celebration of the very finest in big-screen storytelling, HFF presents promising filmmakers with countless opportunities to network with the industry’s top executives and brightest stars. It’s no wonder so many winners of HFF have secured representation and distribution deals through outlets including HBO, Miramax, IFC, 7th Art Releasing, Indican, and Starz, among others.
Jon Fitzgerald is the new Executive Director of the Hollywood Film Festival.
In the last ten years, HFF has seen a total 96 Oscar nominations and 32 Academy Awards presented its official selections and to the honorees of the Hollywood Film Awards, HFF’s companion event. HFF awards are covered by print and online media, as well as by cable and network television stations the world over. Heralded as a “pre-Oscar showcase” by “The Los Angeles Times,” last year’s event honored Richard Gere, Bradley Cooper, Robert De Niro, Amy Adams, Ben Affleck, John Hawkes, and Quentin Tarantino. Few events can compete with HFF’s heady mix of A-List star power and career-making industry exposure or with its desire to help deserving talents find their place on the world stage.
HFF has launched numerous successful careers and has exponentially increased the visibility of the talents it honors. After HFF hosted the world premiere of his first film, The Poor & Hungry, director Craig Brewer secured the sale of Hustle & Flow to Paramount Studios for a cool $9 million. That picture would go on to snag an Academy Award for Best Original Song and an Oscar nomination for its star, Terence Howard. Other notable HFF successes include director Robert DeFranco, (who sold his film, Telling You, to Miramax) and Zoe Clarke-Williams, who was signed to direct an MGM film after being honored at the festival. HFF-winning documentarian Janine Hoskins sold her film, My Khmer Heart, to HBO.
   
UPCOMING DEADLINE – SUBMIT TODAY
April 30, 2013 – Regular Deadline
MISSION AND OBJECTIVE
The Hollywood Film Festival bridges the gap between established Hollywood and the global creative community, providing an avenue of discovery for emerging filmmakers.
MORE ABOUT THE FESTIVAL
The Festival will initiate a series of meetings between independent filmmakers and industry professionals, through the Hollywood Network program. And with an aim toward promoting philanthropy and social awareness, HFF engineered the “Hollywood Gives Back” [...]

Columbia Pictures has acquired domestic distribution and a good portion of the available international distribution rights to David Ayer’s epic war film FURY, with Brad Pitt set to star in the leading role, it was announced today by QED International CEO Bill Block and Doug Belgrad, President of Columbia Pictures. QED is producing the film with John Lesher?s Le Grisbi Productions and Ethan Smith. Alex Ott is co-producing the feature with Ayer. Principal photography is set to begin in September 2013 and Columbia anticipates releasing FURY on November 14, 2014.
FURY is set at the very end of World War II, in April 1945. As the Allies make their final push in the European Theater, a battle-hardened army sergeant named Wardaddy (Brad Pitt) commands a Sherman tank and her five-man crew on a deadly mission behind enemy lines. Outnumbered and outgunned, Wardaddy and his men face overwhelming odds in their heroic attempts to strike at the heart of Nazi Germany.
?We loved this script from the moment we read it,? Belgrad said. ?This is epic and authentic storytelling at its finest and we couldn?t be more excited to be in business with David Ayer and Brad Pitt on this incredible story of sacrifice and heroism.?
QED and the studio previously partnered on the worldwide hit DISTRICT 9. FURY is Ayer?s second film with QED, which is financing and producing his ensemble action thriller TEN, starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, Sam Worthington and Mireille Enos, and which is set for release from Open Road Films in January 2014. FURY also reteams Ayer with John Lesher, who produced his last film, END OF WATCH.
Josh Grode and Noel Lohr represented QED in the transaction.
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Following in the footsteps of the record-breaking Marvel Studios’ release, “Marvel’s The Avengers,” production on the highly anticipated release, Marvel’s “Captain America: The Winter Soldier” has commenced in Los Angeles, Calif., with production also including locations in Cleveland, Ohio, and Washington D.C. Directing the film is the team of Anthony and Joe Russo (“Welcome to Collinwood”) from a screenplay written by Christopher Markus (“Captain America: The First Avenger”) & Stephen McFeely (“Captain America: The First Avenger”). Marvel’s “Captain America: The Winter Soldier” returns Chris Evans (“Captain America: The First Avenger,” “Marvel’s The Avengers”) as the iconic Super Hero character Steve Rogers/Captain America, along with Scarlett Johansson (“Marvel’s The Avengers,” “Iron Man 2”) as Black Widow and Samuel L. Jackson (“Marvel’s The Avengers,” “Iron Man 2”) as Nick Fury. In addition, film icon Robert Redford has joined the all-star cast as Agent Alexander Pierce, a senior leader within the S.H.I.E.L.D. organization. “Captain America: The Winter Soldier” is set for release in the U.S. on April 4, 2014.
“Captain America: The Winter Soldier” will pick-up where “Marvel’s The Avengers” left off, as Steve Rogers struggles to embrace his role in the modern world and teams up with Natasha Romanoff, aka Black Widow, to battle a powerful yet shadowy enemy in present-day Washington, D.C.
Based on the ever-popular Marvel comic book series, first published in 1941, Marvel’s “Captain America: The Winter Soldier” features an outstanding supporting cast that includes Sebastian Stan (“Captain America: The First Avenger,” “Black Swan”) as Bucky Barnes/Winter Soldier, Anthony Mackie (“The Hurt Locker,” “Million Dollar Baby”) as Sam Wilson/Falcon, Cobie Smulders (“Marvel’s The Avengers,” “How I Met Your Mother”) as Agent Maria Hill, Frank Grillo (“Zero Dark Thirty”) as Brock Rumlow and Georges St-Pierre (“Death Warrior”) as Georges Batroc. Rounding out the talented cast are Hayley Atwell (“Captain America: The First Avenger”) as Peggy Carter, Toby Jones (“Captain America: The First Avenger,” “The Hunger Games”) as Arnim Zola, Emily VanCamp (“The Ring 2,” “Revenge”) as Agent 13 and Maximiliano Hernández (“Marvel’s The Avengers,” “Thor”) as Agent Jasper Sitwell.
Marvel Studios’ President Kevin Feige is producing the film. Executive producers on the project include Alan Fine, Louis D’Esposito, Victoria Alonso, Michael Grillo and Stan Lee. The creative production team on the film includes director of photography Trent Opaloch (“Elysium,” “District 9”), production designer Peter Wenham (“21 Jump Street,” “Fast Five”), editors Jeffrey Ford, A.C.E. and Mary Jo Markey, A.C.E. (“Star [...]

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced today that it has received a $25 million commitment from The David Geffen Foundation for the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures. The gift was made as part of the Academy Museum’s $300 million capital campaign and is the largest commitment received to date. In recognition of this gift, the Academy will name the Museum’s premiere-sized theater The David Geffen Theater.
“David’s support of this project is transformative,” said Academy Museum Campaign Chair Bob Iger. “It takes a large and diverse group of supporters to build a project on the scale of the Academy Museum. David joins an esteemed group of individuals, companies, and foundations who are leading the charge.” The Academy launched the Museum’s capital campaign in 2012 and has already secured more than half of the campaign’s goal in commitments. The campaign is co-chaired by Annette Bening and Tom Hanks.
“I’m pleased to support the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures,” added David Geffen. “This is an exciting opportunity to be part of the creation of an iconic architectural space and cultural institution that will combine the best of the old and the new and provide a permanent public home for the Academy’s rich tradition of honoring the shining stars of the cinematic arts.”
Designed by architects Renzo Piano and Zoltan Pali, the Academy Museum will be located next to the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) in the historic Wilshire May Company building. Slated to open in early 2017, the Academy Museum will contain nearly 300,000 square feet of state-of-the-art galleries, exhibition spaces, theaters, screening rooms, education centers, and special event spaces.
The design for the Academy Museum fully restores the Wilshire and Fairfax street-front facades of the original 1939 Streamline Moderne building. It also includes a spherical wing at the northern end of the original building that will replace an extension made to the structure in 1946. Designed to represent the marriage of art and technology, the wing will house The David Geffen Theater and will be a spectacular new piece of contemporary architecture that will perfectly complement the historic building.
“David’s enlightened philanthropy touches lives every day,” said Dawn Hudson, the Academy’s CEO. “His generosity and commitment to our museum are deeply inspiring to all of us working to make this long-held dream a reality.”
The David Geffen Theater will be in operation throughout the year. Programming will include: premieres of films from [...]