Posts

Starz Breaks Off Negotiations With Netflix; Company’s Content Will Be Removed From Streaming Feb 2012 By Russ Fischer/Sept. 1, 2011 6:00 pm EST Today the new pricing structure for Netflix went into full effect, but that’s not the biggest blow landed to the company’s PR campaign this afternoon. Starz, the company through which Netflix gets a rather large percentage of its streaming cataloge, has backed out of negotiations to extent its current content deal, and will remove its content from the Netflix Watch Instantly service when the existing contract expires in February 2012....

The Muppets Won’t Host Or Sing, But They Will Present At The Oscars By Angie Han/Feb. 17, 2012 1:00 pm EST Although the Muppets have recently seen a resurgence in popularity — not unlike the one they enjoyed in the plotline of last year’s The Muppets, which contributed to that popularity — they’ve had some trouble getting into Hollywood’s biggest night of the year. First, the powers that be decided to go with Billy Crystal rather than the Muppets to replace Eddie Murphy as host, despite impassioned pleas from fans....

What Is It Like To Start A Film Distribution Company? By David Chen/Nov. 2, 2010 9:32 pm EST Not too long ago, we learned that the superlative Alamo Drafthouse theaters would be launching a film distribution arm. This evening, Drafthouse founder Tim League was in Boston, along with director Chris Morris, to promote Drafthouse Films’ first movie, Four Lions. My extensive interview with Morris will go live on the site on Friday, but in the meantime, I thought I’d share a conversation I had with League about his new distribution business....

‘Ender’s Game’ Puts Out Casting Calls For Ender And Nine Other Characters By Angie Han/Sept. 28, 2011 6:39 pm EST It feels like a film adaptation of Orson Scott Card’s sci-fi classic Ender’s Game has been in the works for about as long as I can remember, so you’ll have to forgive me for my initial skepticism when it was announced last year that director Gavin Hood would be making yet another attempt to translate the novel to the big screen....

‘Midnight Run 2’ Getting New Screenwriters And A New Director: Brett Ratner By Russ Fischer/March 21, 2012 3:00 pm EST Two years ago we started to hear that Robert De Niro might reprise his role from the Martin Brest-directed suspense comedy Midnight Run, in which De Niro played a bounty hunter on the trail of a mob accountant (Charles Grodin). There were a lot of questions, chief among which was “why?...

‘Miss Bala’ Trailer: A Beauty Queen, A Drug Lord And A Massacre By Russ Fischer/Aug. 30, 2011 4:30 pm EST One film to do supremely well at Cannes this year that we haven’t talked much about in the months since is Miss Bala. The Mexican film is about a beauty pageant contestant (Stephanie Sigman) who narrowly survives a massacre and is subsequently drawn into the drug-running Mexican underworld. Reviews have pegged Miss Bala as a film that savagely depicts the drug wars that have ravaged parts of Mexico....

‘Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol’ Full Trailer By Russ Fischer/Oct. 27, 2011 4:30 pm EST Here’s the full trailer for Brad Bird’s first foray into live-action, Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol. This follows the same basic opening thread as the teaser trailer before kicking into gear with more story, suspense and action. There are some visual callbacks to past films in the series, and Simon Pegg gets a good moment. Ghost Protocol stars Tom Cruise and Jeremy Renner, with Paula Patton, Josh Holloway, Ving Rhames, Michael Nyqvist, Anil Kapoor, Lea Seydoux and Vladimir Mashkov....

‘Supernatural’ Creator Adapting DC’s ‘Deadman’ For CW By Russ Fischer/Aug. 26, 2011 11:06 am EST The last time we heard a rumor about Supernatural creator Eric Kripke and his possible ties to a comic book-based TV show, he was being linked to Neil Gaiman’s Sandman. That didn’t happen — or isn’t happening quickly, as DC is taking its time getting Sandman off the ground — but now he’s linked to another DC property....

‘The Blind Side’ Writer-Director John Lee Hancock Helming Disney’s ‘Electric Boy Genius’ By Adam Quigley/Nov. 9, 2010 8:00 pm EST Disney has their next inspiring true story in line for the big screen. They’re calling it Electric Boy Genius, and it’s based on a 2002 GQ article about young inventor and electrical engineering wunderkind Ryan Patterson who, at just 17 years of age, invented an electronic sign-language device that used sensors in a glove to translate specific hand movements into letters on a screen....

‘The Change-Up’ Trailer By Russ Fischer/May 11, 2011 10:15 am EST Our first look at The Change-Up, from Wedding Crashers director David Dobkin, was a red band trailer that spent a couple minutes reveling in the fact that the film was written as a very R-rated comedy. This new theatrical trailer is basically a tamer version of that first look, though it does include a couple of new bits. This time the emphasis is more on the interaction between Jason Bateman and Ryan Reynolds, playing lifelong friends who mystically switch bodies and lives after taking a drunken leak in a public fountain....

Antonio Banderas, Mark Strong And Freida Pinto Cast In ‘Black Gold’ By Russ Fischer/Oct. 14, 2010 8:00 am EST It’s difficult to say whether Black Gold, which seeks to tell a tale of rival Arabic rulers during the Arab oil boom of the 1930s, will be any good. But the film, which will be directed by Jean-Jacques Annaud (Seven Years in Tibet) has an interesting cast: Antonio Banderas toplines, with Mark Strong, Freida Pinto (Slumdog Millionaire), and Tahar Rahim (A Prophet) all lined up to appear....

Bryan Singer To Direct And Produce New ‘The Munsters’ TV Pilot By Russ Fischer/Nov. 30, 2011 10:00 am EST In 2010 when talk first started to surface about a new version of The Munsters, it was to be a collaboration between Guillermo del Toro and Bryan Fuller (Dead Like Me, Wonderfalls, Pushing Daisies). The show stalled out and when NBC eventually asked Fuller to rework the pilot script into something edgier, Guillermo del Toro was already moving forward with Pacific Rim....

Casting Bits: Alia Shawkat In ‘He Loves Me’ And ‘The Brass Teapot’, Jacki Weaver In ‘Stoker’, David Oyelowo In ‘The Paperboy’ By Angie Han/July 28, 2011 2:00 pm EST Alia Shawkat may not be quite as ubiquitous as Arrested Development co-star Jason Bateman, but she’s been quietly beefing up her film resume over the past few years. Recently, Shawkat added two more projects to her slate: He Loves Me, Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris’ follow-up to Little Miss Sunshine; and The Brass Teapot, starring Juno Temple and Michael Angarano....

Casting Bits: Hailee Steinfeld, Dave Franco, And Deborah Ann Woll For ‘Rosaline’, Anne Hathaway In ‘Puzzler’, Josh Holloway And Chris Brown In ‘Planet B-Boy’ By Angie Han/Oct. 28, 2011 5:00 am EST Hailee Steinfeld, Dave Franco, and Deborah Ann Woll have been offered the leads in Rosaline, a retelling of Shakespeare’s Romeo & Juliet that’s told from the perspective of the girl Romeo ditches to be with Juliet. Michael Sucsy is directing from a script by by (500) Days of Summer writers Scott Neustader and Michael H....

Casting Bits: Jonah Hill In ‘Neighborhood Watch;’ Rufus Sewell In ‘Paradise Lost;’ Clifton Collins, Jr. In ‘Pacific Rim’ By Russ Fischer/Aug. 24, 2011 9:00 am EST It’s the ‘supporting actors in big movies’ Casting Bits, with a confirmation of a report that surfaced last week, and two nice additions to big projects at Legendary Pictures. After the break, you’ll find: Jonah Hill is confirmed for the action comedy Neighborhood Watch, Rufus Sewell joins Paradise Lost, and Clifton Collins, Jr....

Comic Con 2012 Video Blog: Marvel’s ‘Ant-Man’ And ‘Iron Man 3’ By Peter Sciretta/July 16, 2012 5:00 am EST San Diego Comic Con 2012 ended on Sunday, but for many movie geeks it went out with a bang on Saturday night when Marvel returned to Hall H and presented phase two of the Marvel movie universe — which included surprise test footage from Edgar Wright’s Ant-Man and a look at Shane Black’s in production Iron Man 3....

Cool Stuff: Edward Scissorhands 20th Anniversary Art Tribute Show By Peter Sciretta/March 28, 2011 6:00 am EST On April 16th 2011, Gallery Nucleus will host a 20th anniversary tribute to Tim Burton’s Edward Scissorhands. The art exhibition will" highlight the works of over 40 artists, including paintings, drawings, prints, sculptures, etc." Read the press release after the jump, along with a gallery of sample art from the exhibition. Sample Gallery: Press Release: Gallery Nucleus Presents: EDWARD SCISSORHANDS 20TH ANNIVERSARY TRIBUTE April 16, 2011 – May 09, 2011 Opening Reception: April 16, 2011(7 pm – 11 pm) On April 16, Gallery Nucleus transforms into the mystical world of Edward Scissorhands as we host an exhibition to tribute Tim Burton’s classic love story and its unforgettable characters; Edward, Kim, Peg and a band of colorful suburbanites....

Cool Stuff: Robocop-Inspired “Too Many Donuts” T-Shirt By Peter Sciretta/April 21, 2010 9:00 am EST We’ve featured a bunch of New Zealand artist Glenn Jones t-shirts in past editions of Cool Stuff. This week Glennz rereleased a popular Robocop parody tee with a new and improved design. Here is an explanation from Glenn: I drew the original design for this about 5 years ago, and it’s always been a favorite. The voters seemed to like it too, but it needed a refresh 5 years later, so was time for a redraw....

Despicable Me Featurette: “NCM First Look” By Peter Sciretta/May 21, 2010 2:00 pm EST Universal Pictures has released a new “NCM First Look” featurette for Illumination Entertainment’s computer animated feature Despicable Me (you can also see the previously released trailers here: one, two, three, and four). Watch it now, embedded after the jump. In a happy suburban neighborhood surrounded by white picket fences with flowering rose bushes, sits a black house with a dead lawn....

Disney Chief Wants ‘Lone Ranger’ To Ride; Will Gore Verbinski Be In The Saddle? By Russ Fischer/Aug. 22, 2011 10:15 am EST Speculation continues as to whether Disney will or won’t bankroll a $200m Lone Ranger from producer Jerry Bruckheimer, director Gore Verbinski and star Johnny Depp. The studio canned the film just over a week ago thanks to budgetary concerns (it was running north of $250m) but various sources within Disney have indicated the project remains a possibility....