Archive for the ‘News Items’ Category

‘Little Fockers’ leads US box office

Monday, December 27th, 2010
Robert De Niro and Ben Stiller in Little Fockers

Little Fockers has narrowly beaten True Grit to top the US box office this weekend.

Little Fockers underperformed greatly, taking in only $34 million over the weekend, bringing its five-day total to $48 million. According to Entertainment Weekly, it is unlikely that the third film in the Meet the Parents series will come close to matching the $279.3 million total of 2004’s Meet the Fockers.

Meanwhile, True Grit, which stars Jeff Bridges and Matt Damon, took in double the studio’s original estimate, earning $25.6 million and claiming second place at the US box office. Bridges’s other movie Tron: Legacy fell from first to third place, bringing its total to $88.4 million.

Finally, The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader took fourth place, earning $10.8 million, while Yogi Bear fell from second to fifth place, grossing $8.8 million over the weekend, bringing its total to $36.8 million.

The weekend’s other new release, Jack Black’s Gulliver’s Travels, took in only $7.2 million, opening in seventh place.

The US box office top ten in full:
1. (-) Little Fockers – $34,000,000
2. (-) True Grit – $25,600,000
3. (1) Tron: Legacy – $20,107,000
4. (3) The Chronicles Of Narnia: Voyage Of The Dawn Treader – $10,800,000
5. (2) Yogi Bear – $8,800,000
6. (4) The Fighter – $8,500,000
7. (-) Gulliver’s Travels – $7,200,000
8. (7) Black Swan – $6,600,000
9. (6) Tangled – $6,519,000
10. (5) The Tourist – $5,700,000

‘Avengers’ movie to shoot in New Mexico

Sunday, December 26th, 2010
Iron Man 2

Marvel’s forthcoming Avengers movie will reportedly shoot in New Mexico.

According to Marvel Studios, production on the superhero movie will begin between April and September of 2011.

In a statement, New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson called the upcoming Avengers shoot “our biggest production to date” and said that the film would be “the most technologically advanced” ever produced in the state.

He added: “I’m announcing this as a Christmas present of sorts to the people of New Mexico. This is a perfect example of the incredible job creation, economic impact and global visibility this industry has brought our state over the past eight years, and of the need to keep it moving forward.”

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‘Spider-Man’ to film in New York, LA

Sunday, December 26th, 2010
Spider-Man

Shooting locations for Marc Webb’s Spider-Man reboot have been revealed.

According to the Los Angeles Times, the Marvel Comics adaptation will be filmed in Hollywood and New York.

Sony Pictures’ lot in Los Angeles is expected to be the primary shooting location. The Henry Fonda Theater in Hollywood and Immanuel Presbyterian Church in mid-Wilshire will host on-location shoots. Filming is scheduled to take place over a 90-day period.

“This is the fourth Spider-Man production we have shot primarily in Los Angeles and for good reason,” said Sony Pictures exec Steve Elzer. “The crews here are the best in the world but there is a comfort level in producing a project of this size and scope on your own backlot.”

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Vin Diesel offers new ‘Riddick’ details

Saturday, December 25th, 2010
Vin Diesel at a special screening in Los Angeles of his short film 'Los Bandoleros'.

Vin Diesel has offered new details about the next Riddick movie.

The third Riddick instalment, reportedly titled The Chronicles Of Riddick: Dead Man Stalking, is currently in the works.

Diesel said that the film could offer him a new challenge.

“[M]y partner on [The Chronicles Of Riddick] since the beginning, [David Twohy]… has a new challenge in store. He wants me to have three different body looks for this next chapter,” he wrote on his Facebook fanpage.

“There is the DiNorscio type, the Dom type, and the lean Furyan type… but all in the same movie, haha… When it comes to art, we all like a challenge.”

Christian Bale to star in ‘Nanjing Heroes’

Friday, December 24th, 2010
Christian Bale

Christian Bale will lead the cast of Chinese director Zhang Yimou’s latest film Nanjing Heroes, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

Zhang – who helmed the opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympics and made Hero and House Of Flying Daggers – will next turn his attention to a film about the 1937 Nanjing Massacre, in which Japanese troops killed thousands of Chinese citizens in the nation’s capital.

Bale will play an American priest named John who helped many Chinese escape death.

“I met Christian in America and was impressed with his serious book research for the role,” Zhang said.

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DiCaprio named 2010’s highest-grossing star

Thursday, December 23rd, 2010
Leonardo DiCaprio - The Hollywood hunk hits 36 on Thursday

Leonardo DiCaprio has been declared the highest-grossing actor of 2010.

The list, compiled by Forbes, concludes that DiCaprio’s starring roles in Shutter Island and Inception – both of which took more than £650 million worldwide – made him the most bankable star of the year.

In joint second place are Alice In Wonderland co-stars Johnny Depp and Mia Wasikowska, whose positions on the countdown are augmented by The Tourist and The Kids Are All Right respectively.

Iron Man 2‘s Robert Downey Jr. and Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows: Part 1‘s Daniel Radcliffe complete the top five.

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‘Avatar’ named 2010’s most pirated film

Wednesday, December 22nd, 2010
Avatar movie

Avatar has been named the most pirated movie of 2010.

James Cameron’s record-breaking blockbuster was downloaded illegally more than 16 million times, according to website TorrentFreak. The figure is a 33% increase on the 11 million downloads for Star Trek in 2009.

Superhero movie Kick-Ass is second in the 2010 list with 11.4 million downloads, while two Leonardo DiCaprio movies – Inception and Shutter Island – chart at numbers three and four.

Robert Downey Jr.’s Iron Man 2 is at number five on the list and the actor’s other big action movie this year, Sherlock Holmes, is the eighth most downloaded film.

The top ten list of 2010’s most pirates films is as follows:
1. Avatar – 16,580,000
2. Kick-Ass – 11,400,000
3. Inception – 9,720,000
4. Shutter Island – 9,490,000
5. Iron Man 2 – 8,810,000
6. Clash Of The Titans – 8,040,000
7. Green Zone – 7,730,000
8. Sherlock Holmes – 7,160,000
9. The Hurt Locker – 6,850,000
10. Salt – 6,700,000

MGM ’emerges from bankruptcy’

Tuesday, December 21st, 2010
MGM logo

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc has revealed that it has officially come out of bankruptcy.

The studio declared today that its corporate restructuring has been effective and that it has emerged from bankruptcy with $500m (£321m), reports Deadline.

“MGM is emerging from one of the most challenging periods of its storied history,” stated Gary Barber and Roger Birnbaum, the co-chairmen and chief executive officers of MGM.

“We are honoured and inspired at the opportunity of leading one of Hollywood’s most iconic studios into its next generation of unforgettable filmmaking, global television production and distribution, and aggressively pursuing, developing and exploiting new digital entertainment platforms.”

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New ‘2001: A Space Odyssey’ footage found

Monday, December 20th, 2010
160x120 2001 A space odyssey

New footage of 2001: A Space Odyssey has been found in perfect condition.

The sci-fi premiered in 1968, with a running time of 160 minutes. However, 19 minutes were cut by director Stanley Kubrick and buried in a salt-mine vault in Kansas, according to The Film Stage.

It is alleged that 17 of the missing 19 minutes were found by Warner Bros in the salt-mine “perfectly preserved”. As of yet, there is no word on what the studio plans to do with the extra film. In fact, the scenes may not even be released to the public.

The footage found reportedly features an assortment of scenes, including some additional shots from the opening sequence and an extended shot of Frank Poole’s space walk before he is killed.

2001: A Space Odyssey tells the story of the discovery of a strange artefact buried on the moon and mankind’s subsequent quest.

‘Tron’ beats ‘Yogi’ at US box office

Monday, December 20th, 2010
Jeff Bridges in Tron Legacy

Long-awaited sequel Tron: Legacy has beaten Yogi Bear to top the US box office this weekend.

Tron: Legacy took $43.6 million on its opening weekend, compared to the $16.7 million taken by the Warner Brothers family film.

Last week’s box-office topper The Chronicles Of Narnia: The Voyage Of The Dawn Treader falls to third, taking $12.4 million, followed by new entry The Fighter with $12.2 million.

Rounding out the top five is the Angelina Jolie and Johnny Depp thriller The Tourist, taking only $8.7 million in its second week.

Reese Witherspoon and Owen Wilson’s new romantic comedy How Do You Know fails to crack the top five films, bringing in $7.6 million to land at number eight.

The US box office top ten in full:
1. (-) Tron: Legacy – $43,600,000
2. (-) Yogi Bear – $16,700,000
3. (1) The Chronicles Of Narnia: The Voyage Of The Dawn Treader – $12,400,000
4. (-) The Fighter – $12,200,000
5. (2) The Tourist – $8,700,000
6. (3) Tangled – $8,670,000
7. (6) Black Swan – $8,300,000
8. (-) How Do You Know – $7,600,000
9. (4) Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows: Part 1 – $4,645,000
10. (5) Unstoppable – $1,800,000