Archive for December, 2010

‘Lost’ named 2010’s most pirated TV show

Friday, December 31st, 2010
The cast of Lost season 6

Lost has topped a list of the top 10 most pirated US television series for 2010.

Episodes of the ABC drama, which ended its run in May, were illegally downloaded almost 6 million times this year, according to TorrentFreak. The figure is a slight dip from 2009 figures, which also saw Lost top the list.

Axed NBC series Heroes came in second with around 5.48m downloads, up on the show’s estimated television viewership of 5.3m. Showtime drama Dexter was third in the list, with 3.88m downloads again topping the show’s estimated viewing figures of 2.54m.

Other shows that made the top ten include Fox’s House and 24, which placed fifth and seventh respectively. Fox was the worst hit network overall, with Glee and Family Guy also charting.

The full top ten list of 2010’s most pirated television series is as follows:
1. Lost – 5,940,000
2. Heroes – 5,480,000
3. Dexter – 3,880,000
4. The Big Bang Theory – 3,270,000
5. House – 2,610,000
6. How I Met Your Mother – 2,490,000
7. 24 – 2,240,000
8. True Blood – 1,920,000
9. Glee – 1,700,000
10. Family Guy – 1,620,000

‘Toy Story 3’ is 2010’s highest-grossing film

Thursday, December 30th, 2010
Toy Story 3

Toy Story 3 has been named as the world’s highest-grossing movie of the year after raking in $1.05bn (£682m).

The Guardian reports that the final part of Pixar’s animated adventure series is just ahead of Disney’s Alice in Wonderland, which grossed $1.02bn (£661m).

In third place is Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1, which made $831m (£538m) despite only being in cinemas for six weeks, while director Christopher Nolan’s critically-acclaimed Inception is at four with $825m (£534m).

The rest of the top ten are Shrek Forever After ($737m / £477m), Twilight: Eclipse ($693m / £449m), Iron Man 2 ($622m / £403m), Despicable Me ($539m / £349m), Clash of the Titans ($493m / £319m) and How to Train Your Dragon ($493m / £319m).

‘Tron’ writers announce animated series

Thursday, December 30th, 2010
Tron Legacy

The writers behind Tron Legacy have announced plans to air a new animated series which will serve as the next instalment of the Tron franchise.

The show will cover the events which took place between the original Tron film and Tron Legacy and will be considered as part of the continuity of the series.

Screenwriter Eddy Kistis told Box Office Magazine: “We’re treating it very seriously. This animated show will take place from when Flynn is in a safe house. It’s from when Clu takes over the grid to before when Sam comes in. So if you were wondering what was the grid like before that, then watch the show.”

“We hesitate to tell too much just yet, but it will fill in the blanks of some things, and also explore some new areas as well. Bruce Boxleitner is in it, Elijah Wood, Linda Moore, Paul Reubens, Lance Henriksen. I mean, we’ve got a really cool group of actors.”

The 10-part series – written by Kistis and Tron Legacy co-writer Adam Horowitz – will air in summer 2011.

‘Empire Strikes Back’ preserved by US Congress

Wednesday, December 29th, 2010
Yoda

Star Wars sequel The Empire Strikes Back is to be preserved by the US Library of Congress as part of its National Film Registry.

BBC News reports that the George Lucas film will be joined by the American director’s student film Electronic Labyrinth: THX 1138 4EB, made in 1967.

Other ‘culturally significant’ films making the yearly list are Spike Lee’s Malcolm X, about the black political revolutionary, and Saturday Night Fever.

Each year, 25 films are added to the registry, which began archiving pictures in 1989.

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David Lynch predicts online film future

Wednesday, December 29th, 2010
David Lynch

David Lynch has predicted that more movies will premiere on the internet in the near future.

Bang Showbiz quotes the Mulholland Drive director as saying that he is concerned over the much-speculated notion that movie theatres will eventually become extinct.

“That’s where everything is heading very soon. It will just be downloads,” he said. “It doesn’t matter how people get hold of a film; as long as they can see it in the right way it will still be beautiful.”

Lynch continued: “If people can see a film on a big screen with the lights low and good sound, then they still have the chance to enter another world.

“Some films do better on a small screen than others but if you saw 2001: A Space Odyssey on a phone it would just be the most pathetic joke.”

‘Total Recall’ to begin shooting next year

Tuesday, December 28th, 2010
Arnold Schwarzenegger as Douglas Quaid in 'Total Recall'

The Total Recall remake will begin shooting in March of next year.

Total Recall was a 1990 film starring Arnold Schwarzenegger as a freedom fighter from Mars who is relocated to Earth.

According to Cinema Blend, the remake will be directed by Len Wiseman, who directed Underworld and Underworld: Evolution. No-one has been cast in the Schwarzenegger role, though it has reportedly been offered to Colin Farrell.

The film will shoot in Toronto on a $200 million (£129.8m) budget. The original Total Recall grossed about $119 million (£77.3m) on a $50 million (£32.5m) budget.

Total Recall is expected to open in theatres in 2012.

‘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.”