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Hopkins to The Sea?

By Sandra Lim (Subscribe to Sandra Lim's posts), Posted Jun 2nd 2006 8:09AM
Filed under: Drama, Casting, Cinematical
It appears that there's a slew of critically-acclaimed novels being made into movies of late. Earlier, we reported on McEwan's Atonement and Coetzee's Disgrace; each movie is attached to fairly big name stars. Now, John Banville has announced that his Booker Prize-winning novel The Sea will be adapted for the bigscreen. He'd like Anthony Hopkins to play Max Morden, "a man haunted by death and a distant trauma that takes him back to the coastal town where he spent a holiday in his youth." Though a successful writer, Banville remains critical of his writing and admits that screenwriting is no easy feat (his first book to film, Reflections, starring Gabriel Byrne, tanked at the box office): "I have written about half a dozen scripts, but for every hundred scripts written one movie is made." Read

Warner Bros. Goes Straight to DVDs

By Sandra Lim (Subscribe to Sandra Lim's posts), Posted Jun 1st 2006 9:00AM
Filed under: Deals, Warner Brothers, Home Entertainment, Movie Marketing, Remakes and Sequels, Features, Movie News, Cinematical
Warner Bros. is going on the cheap: The studio is launching a direct-to-DVD business that will release 10 to 15 low-budget movies a year. The partnership is between Warner Bros. Pictures and Warner Bros. Home Entertainment Group. Though movies made for DVD are typically cheaper to produce and distribute, they face more competition these days from boxed sets of popular TV shows like Lost or 24. One of the ways Warners will try and overcome entertainment overload on the part of consumers built into the plan is to produce prequels and sequels with a built-in audience, such as a sequel to 2005's The Dukes of Hazzard. The movie grossed $80.3 million domestically (which shocks me, people), but it isn't the kind of mega-hit that justifies the costly stars and big production expenses of a regular theatrical release.; the Dukes sequel, for instance, will not have the original cast members Jessica Simpson or Johnny Knoxville. The new DVD division, to be overseen by Warner's production president Jeff Robinov and the president of the studio's home entertainment group, Kevin Tsujihara, will also make and acquire original made-for-DVD movies in a range of genres. Read

Unconventional Summer Movie Tie-Ins

By Sandra Lim (Subscribe to Sandra Lim's posts), Posted May 31st 2006 9:00PM
Filed under: Deals, Universal, Warner Brothers, Box Office, Movie Marketing, Movie News, UK Box Office, Cinematical, UK Box Office
Movie marketers and studio execs are seeking deals with unconventional brands for their summer blockbuster movie tie-ins -- because if you can't make money the conventional way, hey, try something new. The latest tack involves trying to reach niche markets with partners like State Farm, Goodyear, and Energizer, versus using traditional cross-marketing brands like McDonald's and General Mills (with all their attendant bad press of promoting childhood obesity). Disney/Pixar's Cars has lined up 17 promotional partners "for what is being described as the biggest and broadest campaign in Disney history." With TV, the Internet, music and video games vying for all of our attention and cash, movie studios are trying to expand their branding and cross-marketing concepts -- and Disney's approach of insurance and tires instead of cereal and fries is definitely that.. As we reported before, Universal Pictures teamed up with Budweiser and MasterCard for The Break-Up, which opens this Friday. Budweiser features a site that hosts a National Break-Up Day, while MasterCard is promoting a special edition Zagat guide with ideal restaurants for break-ups in New York, Chicago and Los Angeles. And maybe you didn't notice (I sure didn't), but Warner Bros. set up a tie-in with Ike Behar shirts, which were worn by Poseidon stars Josh Lucas and Kurt Russell in the movie. They ran co-branded print ads in magazines and in select department stores like Nordstrom -- so now you know what to wear for your next rogue wave! Read

Now Showing: Bus Uncle

By Sandra Lim (Subscribe to Sandra Lim's posts), Posted May 27th 2006 4:33PM
Filed under: Documentary, Independent, DIY/Filmmaking, Cinematical Indie, Movie News, Cinematical
X-Men, The Da Vinci Code, M:i:III watch out: one of the most popular viewed movies online is a six-minute video on YouTube about a grumpy man scolding a bus passenger in Hong Kong for interrupting his phone call. It's been viewed nearly 1.7 m times on YouTube, already spawning spoofs and a new patois.

The grumpy man says things like "This is not resolved!" (now a catchphrase in Hong Kong) and "I face pressure. You face pressure. Why did you provoke me?" Internet users have already made several spoofs such as a karoake version and rap song featuring the refrain, "I face pressure. You face pressure." It's unclear whether the whole incident was staged or not, although the young man who takes the brunt of verbal abuse has been interviewed on Hong Kong's Commercial Radio.

Jewelry Industry Nervous about The Blood Diamond

By Sandra Lim (Subscribe to Sandra Lim's posts), Posted May 27th 2006 3:00PM
Filed under: Drama, Thrillers, Movie Marketing, Politics, Movie News, Cinematical
In the wake of all sorts of special interest groups getting offended by the phenomenon that is The Da Vinci Code, news comes from MSNBC that the U.S. jewelry industry "is gearing up to counter any negative effects from the upcoming film The Blood Diamond, which shows how illicit gem trade fueled bloody civil wars."

The film stars Leonardo DiCaprio as a South African mercenary jailed for smuggling in Sierra Leone circa 1999, a time when the nation was in the midst of a terrible civil war. DiCaprio's character specializes in the sale of "blood diamonds" which are used to finance rebellions and terrorists. Apparently the chairman of the Kimberley Process, an international certification program, wrote to the producers of The Blood Diamond asking that it include an epilogue explaining the measures taken to stem the illicit diamond trade.

Similarly to The Da Vinci Code's ways of trying to control religious controversy surrounding the film, it appears that jewelers are already taking defensive measures: "The danger is that people will think the situation in the film is continuing today . . .We're going to educate our jewelers about the issue." A new Web site on diamonds is being set up to answer questions from consumers.


   

Woody Allen Loses Editing Battle

By Sandra Lim (Subscribe to Sandra Lim's posts), Posted May 27th 2006 10:30AM
Filed under: Comedy, Drama, Romance, Deals, Movie Marketing, Movie News, Cinematical
Woody Allen has always had enviable control over almost every aspect of his movies, but he recently lost a battle over what versions of six of his movies will be aired on television and in-flight showings. Allen had filed a suit against his former producer, Jean Doumanian, and her company, saying that they had cheated him out of earnings for eight films, totalling up to $12 million. Six out of those eight films will be shown on TV and in airplanes with Doumanian's cuts. The films are Bullets Over Broadway, Mighty Aphrodite, Everybody Says I Love You, Deconstructing Harry, Celebrity, and Sweet and Lowdown. Allen may yet appeal the decision. Though it's sad for Allen, I'm glad these are the later films, which aside from Sweet and Lowdown and Bullets Over Broadway, I didn't much care for. Of his oeuvre, I'm glad Doumanian and Co. aren't getting their mitts on films like Annie Hall, Hannah and Her Sisters , or even, Take the Money and Run.



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Anna Wintour Attends VIP Screening of Prada

By Sandra Lim (Subscribe to Sandra Lim's posts), Posted May 26th 2006 5:33PM
Filed under: Comedy, 20th Century Fox, Movie Marketing, Movie News, Cinematical
I have to admit, like Kim, I'm tempted to see The Devil Wears Prada, mainly for Meryl Streep's portrayal of the icy Anna Wintour. The New York Daily News dishes on Wintour's appearance at a VIP screening of the movie. Apparently, she was invited by Streep herself, who had assured her "that her character was an amalgam of other fashion arbiters -- ladies like Diana Vreeland, Polly Mellon, Grace Mirabella and Liz Tilberis." Amalgam, sure. But Lauren Weisberger worked at Vogue, not Elle or Harper's Bazaar, before she penned her magazine-world chick-lit novel (complete with the Boss from Hell). Ever since the book came out, Wintour has refused to comment on it. "They purposely seated Lauren and Anna on opposite sides of the theater," reports the Daily News. "As far away as humanly possible."

 


 

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