movies news

Orlando Bloom to star in "Good Doctor"

2010-02-02T02:14:00.002-08:00

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) – Orlando Bloom will play the lead in "The Good Doctor," an indie drama for which Michael Pena, Troy Garity, Courtney Ford, Taraji P। Henson, Rob Morrow and J।K। Simmons are in negotiations to co-star.Bloom also is one of the producers of the Lance Daly-directed picture. The script by John Enbom ("Veronica Mars"), described as a Hitchcockian thriller, centers on a frustrated doctor trying to impress his superiors and colleagues. When an 18-year-old patient, admitted for a kidney infection, provides him with the esteem he so craves, the doctor tampers with her treatment to keep her at the hospital with him.Pena will play an orderly who discovers the doctor's budding relationship and blackmails him for prescription painkillers. Garity is cast as a successful, self-assured doctor, a counterpoint to Bloom. Ford plays a woman who has eyes for Bloom's character.Bloom continues to raise his indie film profile. He stars in Mark Ruffalo's "Sympathy for Delicious," which premiered at Sundance, and has wrapped production on "Main Street." On the London stage, he recently starred in the West End production of "In Celebration."Pena recently wrapped "The Green Hornet," while Garity has IFC's ensemble film "Mercy" in the can. Ford had a recurring role on Showtime's "Dexter," and Henson appears in "Date Night" with Steve Carell and Tina Fey as well as "The Karate Kid.

"Underworld" creators at work on new monster mash

2010-02-02T02:14:00.001-08:00

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) – Lakeshore, the production-financing outfit behind the "Underworld" movie series, is readying what it hopes will be its next action-horror franchise, "I, Frankenstein."
The company has preemptively picked up the script for the comic book adaptation from Death Ray Films, which began developing the project in April.
The project has "Underworld" roots. It's based on a comic from "Underworld" co-creator Kevin Grevioux, who wrote the script for "Frankenstein," and "Underworld: Rise of the Lycans" helmer Patrick Tatopoulos is attached to direct.
The project brings together classic monster characters -- including the Frankenstein monster, the Invisible Man, Dracula and the Hunchback of Notre Dame -- in a contemporary film noir setting.
The monster has evolved; he has learned how to control his anger and is a private investigator. Dracula, meanwhile, is a crime kingpin. The story sees the monster as the only thing standing between the human race and an uprising of supernatural creatures.
Lakeshore and Screen Gems are developing a fourth installment of "Underworld" -- screenwriter John Hlavin was brought on board in November -- but it remains to be seen if star Kate Beckinsale will return.

Shoreline takes "Chance" on Panama hit

2010-02-02T02:13:00.001-08:00

MEXICO CITY (Hollywood Reporter) – Shoreline Entertainment has picked up worldwide rights to Panamanian director Abner Benaim's hit feature "Chance."
The comedy, co-written by Benaim, centers on two mistreated live-in housekeepers who take their employers' families hostage.
Co-produced by Benaim's Apertura Films and Matthias Ehrenberg's Colombian production arm Rio Negro Producciones, "Chance" has enjoyed unprecedented success in its native Panama. Freshman helmer Benaim said that in its third week, "Chance" was holding on to the No. 1 spot above "Avatar."
"It's a symbolic win, of course," Benaim said. "I don't think (James) Cameron is going to lose sleep over this, but comparatively it's an important figure."
United International Pictures released the picture on 20 prints in the tiny Panamanian market, a large release by local standards, and it marks the first time that a domestic production there has successfully competed with Hollywood fare. UIP also will release the film in Colombia and several Central American and Caribbean nations.
For Shoreline, "Chance" joins its growing slate of Spanish-language titles, including recent Sundance premieres "Undertow" (Contracorriente) and "Southern District" (Zona Sur), as well as Chilean director Sebastian Silva's award-winning drama "The Maid" (La Nana). "Undertow" was sold to Wolf Releasing shortly after its Sundance release.
Shoreline CEO Morris Ruskin is impressed with the strong opening of "Chance" in Panama and the results of his company's other Latin American acquisitions.
"After the worldwide success of 'The Maid' last year and the six-figure deal on 'Undertow' at Sundance this year, as well as the awards, Shoreline is growing ever more confident in our decision to branch out as a company and sell Spanish-language films around the world," he said.

It's top-10 time as Oscars reveal expanded lineup

2010-02-02T02:12:00.002-08:00

Oscar nominations Tuesday feature 10 best-picture nominees instead of the usual five, the first time since the 1943 awards show that so many films are competing for Hollywood's highest honor।

Academy organizers say they wanted a broader range of titles in the mix, including worthy populist movies that often miss out on best-picture nominations in favor of the smaller dramas Oscar voters typically prefer.
Blockbuster best-picture contenders usually translate to better ratings for the Oscar broadcast, whose TV audience peaked with James Cameron's "Titanic" triumph 12 years ago. Ratings have been so-so ever since, hitting an all-time low two years ago.
Luckily for Oscar overseers, the show this time likely will include the biggest thing since "Titanic," Cameron's own "Avatar." The science-fiction sensation has soared past "Titanic" to become No. 1 on the box-office charts, with $2 billion and climbing worldwide.
From 1931 to 1943, the Oscars featured between eight and 12 best-picture nominees. There were 10 in 1943, when "Casablanca" won best picture, but the show switched to five nominees after that.
Other hits in the running for slots in this season's expanded best-picture race include the sci-fi tales "Star Trek" and "District 9," the World War II saga "Inglourious Basterds," the football drama "The Blind Side," the Julia Child romp "Julie & Julia," and the animated comedy "Up."
Prospects also include critical favorites such as the war-on-terror thriller "The Hurt Locker," the recession tale "Up in the Air," the Nelson Mandela story "Invictus," and the teen dramas "An Education" and "Precious: Based on the Novel `Push' By Sapphire."
The best-picture and director categories could turn into a showdown between ex-spouses. Cameron and ex-wife Kathryn Bigelow, who made "The Hurt Locker," have dominated earlier Hollywood honors.
"Avatar" won best drama and director at the Golden Globes, while Bigelow beat out Cameron at the Directors Guild of America Awards, whose recipient usually goes on to earn the best-director Oscar.
"The Hurt Locker" also beat "Avatar" for the Producers Guild of America top prize and was chosen as last year's best film by many key critics groups.
Among acting contenders, longtime audience darling Sandra Bullock has never been nominated for an Oscar before but is considered the best-actress front-runner for the real-life drama "The Blind Side," in which she plays a wealthy woman who takes in homeless teen Michael Oher, now a star with the Baltimore Ravens.
Another veteran, Jeff Bridges, has been nominated four times previously without winning an Oscar. Bridges is viewed as the man to beat this time as best actor for his role as a boozy country singer trying to clean up his act in "Crazy Heart."
Bullock and Bridges won top acting prizes at the Golden Globes and the Screen Actors Guild Awards, establishing them as Oscar favorites.
Also considered Oscar favorites are the Globe and SAG supporting-acting winners, Mo'Nique as a reprehensible welfare mother in "Precious" and Christoph Waltz as a gleefully garrulous Nazi in "Inglourious Basterds."
Oscar nominees are chosen in most categories by specific branches of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, such as actors, directors and writers. The academy's full membership of about 5,800 was eligible to vote for best-picture nominations and can cast ballots for the winners in all categories at the Oscar ceremony itself.
The 82nd Oscars will be presented March 7 in a ceremony airing on ABC from Hollywood's Kodak Theatre.
This season's program continues last year's effort to liven up the show. Organizers chose song-and-dance Hugh Jackman as host a year ago rather than the usual comedian, and this time, they decided to go with dual hosts, Steve Martin and Alec Baldwin.
Oscar producers Adam Shankman, a choreographer and director whose films include "Hairspray," and Bill Mechanic, former studio boss at 20th Century Fox, are promising to step up the fun quotient at this year's show.
Honorary Oscars, which took up a big chunk of space during past shows, were moved to a separate event last fall, freeing up more time to focus on the expanded best-picture nominees and other categories viewers care most about.

HBO eyes biopic about anti-gay activist Bryant

2010-02-02T02:12:00.001-08:00

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) – HBO is developing a biopic of former beauty queen, singer and celebrity pitchwoman Anita Bryant, who is known mostly for her work as an anti-gay activist.
"Sex and the City" creator Darren Star is on board to direct the film, which is being written by "Runaway" creator Chad Hodge. Star also is executive producing with Dennis Erdman.
"She is a fascinating person on every single level," said Hodge, who has a connection to Bryant -- they both attended Northwestern University. "The twists and turns of her life are incredible."
By age 18, Bryant, who was born to a religious Oklahoma family in 1940, had won Arthur Godfrey's talent show and a Miss Oklahoma pageant and finished as second runner-up for Miss America.
In 1959 and '60, she was a major pop star with three million-selling records. After marrying and settling in Florida, she reverted to Christian music and, projecting a wholesome image, began plugging such blue-chip companies as Coca-Cola, Kraft Foods and Holiday Inn.
Her most famous celebrity endorsement gig was for the Florida Citrus Commission, for which she sang in a series of TV commercials, closing each ad with the tag line, "A day without orange juice is like a day without sunshine."
By the mid-'70s, Bryant was a Christian celebrity. She published several best-selling books and won Good Housekeeping's "Most Admired Woman in America" poll for three consecutive years.
In 1977, she switched to political activism, launching a crusade to repeal a new Miami-Dade County ordinance prohibiting discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation.
"As a mother, I know that homosexuals cannot biologically reproduce children; therefore, they must recruit our children," she said. Her Save Our Children coalition got the new law overturned within a year, and it took 20 years for it to be reinstated.
Celebrating her victory, Bryant promised she would "seek help and change for homosexuals, whose sick and sad values belie the word 'gay,' which they pathetically use to cover their unhappy lives."
She stayed on the anti-gay-rights cause with speaking tours and went to California to support the Briggs Initiative in 1978, a failed attempt to ban gay teachers from the state's public schools. Archival footage of Bryant was featured in the 2008 film "Milk," which chronicled Harvey Milk's campaign against the initiative.
Bryant's outspoken activism led to a nationwide boycott of orange juice by the gay rights movement. She eventually lost her Citrus Commission contract, and her record and book sales fell sharply. Bryant remarried, tried unsuccessfully to revive her singing career and eventually filed for bankruptcy.
Hodge, who hopes to talk with Bryant about the project, said he is aiming for a nuanced portrayal of her and "what drove her to do the things that she did."

Review: `Frozen' musters only a few chills

2010-02-02T02:11:00.000-08:00

The three players of "Frozen" kill some time while suspended on a ski lift discussing the worst ways to die.
For them, it turns out that being suspended on a ski lift, forgotten and left to freeze after the resort staff goes home for the night, is the most horrible of deaths. For the audience, though, "Frozen" is the most boring way to go as writer-director Adam Green struggles and fails to keep his one-note idea interesting for the length of a feature film.
There's maybe enough material here for a short film, so Green pads "Frozen" with a lot of dreary scenes of chattering teeth and chattering characters as Emma Bell, Shawn Ashmore and Kevin Zegers share thoughts of their plight and the odd childhood anecdote as frostbite sets in.
Since three people shivering on a ski lift would be about as action-packed as "Waiting for Godot," Green also adds wolves — you know, the sort of ravenous wolves that hang out at all the finer New England ski resorts waiting for dalliers on the slopes that they can hunt down and devour.
Green offers a thin back-story about his three characters — longtime best buddies Joe (Ashmore) and Dan (Zegers), college students whose friendship is undergoing a bit of strain as Dan grows more serious with girlfriend Parker (Bell).
Honestly, though, these three are so dull the story might have had more spark and tension had Green stranded three strangers aloft on a frozen chairlift.
"Frozen" has a few queasy-making moments — avoid it if you can't stand the sight of a broken bone sticking through flesh like a knockwurst or the deleterious effects of peeling skin away from freezing metal.
And the wolves do provide some scares, even though they have no business running wild on well-used ski slopes.
To Green's credit, "Frozen" is a nice technical achievement. Green and cinematographer Will Barratt capture images that balance the claustrophobia of three people hanging on a narrow bench with the empty void of night surrounding them.
The characters' frostbite is palpable — the makeup so authentic you can practically feel their pain as the cold sears the skin.
The cold also lulls them to sleep, a state the audience will share for most of the movie.
"Frozen," an Anchor Bay Films release, is rated R for some disturbing images and language. Running time: 93 minutes. One and a half stars out of four.

Stars gather to cover 'We Are the World' for Haiti

2010-02-02T02:06:00.000-08:00

LOS ANGELES – More than 75 mega-stars gathered Monday to re-record the 1985 charity anthem "We are the World" in the same Hollywood recording studio where the original was cut 25 years ago।

Pink, Celine Dion, Natalie Cole, the Jonas Brothers, Kanye West, Tony Bennett, Jennifer Hudson, Akon and other musical luminaries stood shoulder to shoulder on risers at Henson Recording studios, singing their hearts out and hoping to help Haiti.
At one point during the session, the musicians broke out into an a cappella version of the pop classic "Lean on Me."
True to her diva reputation, Barbara Streisand recorded her solo over and over, completely absorbed in the recording process and stopping only to correct her pitch.
Rapper Lil' Wayne was told he would do Bob Dylan's part in the original song.
"I said, 'Are you kidding?'" he said. He felt blessed to record the song but admitted, "I don't know how to sing."
Asked how the earthquake had affected him, he said he had Haitian friends in Miami who lost relatives in the disaster.
"I think it's amazing what's been done for Haiti, but I think it's amazing what hasn't been done for New Orleans," said the Crescent City native.
Quincy Jones, who produced the 1985 anthem, announced last week that he planned to redo the song to benefit recovery from the deadly Jan. 12 earthquake in Port-au-Prince.
Written by Michael Jackson and Lionel Richie, the original "We Are the World" thundered up the charts when it was released on the radio and in record stores in March 1985.
An unprecedented number of top pop musicians gathered at A&M the night of Jan. 28, 1985, following the American Music Awards, to record the tune. The song featured 45 American superstars, including Jackson, Richie, Stevie Wonder, Tina Turner, Ray Charles, Bruce Springsteen, Diana Ross, Bob Dylan and Cyndi Lauper.
None of the original performers returned for the re-record.
The 1985 record raised more than $30 million for USA for Africa, a nonprofit organization founded by the singers to fund hunger relief in African nations.
While reporters watched a video feed of the session in a nearby room, stars like West mingled outside with friends and greeted his buddy, Snoop Dogg, with a hug.
Nicole Richie and "Good Charlotte" singer Joel Madden showed up with their 2-year-old daughter Harlow, whom Madden bounced in his arms to the beat of the music.
Julianne Hough from "Dancing with the Stars," who is also a country singer, said she felt honored to lend her voice to the effort and sing next to so many talented musicians.
"It's just iconic. Celine (Dion) is just so gracious and amazing and such a pro," she said.

Review: Travolta plays action hero in `Paris'

2010-02-02T02:03:00.000-08:00

In the space of just a few weeks, we have movies starring Harrison Ford, Mel Gibson and John Travolta। It's like the early '90s all over again।

Nostalgia is on Travolta mind, too. In "From Paris with Love," he plays a violent but chatty CIA agent who, while bullets fly, likes to engage in dialogue that recalls "Pulp Fiction" as if written by action film hacks.
It's a kind of return to Paris for Travolta, who memorably gave his travelogue of the French capital in "Pulp Fiction." "From Paris with Love" references that, too, with a wink-wink meal of a Royal with cheese.
The Tarantino comparison (not to mention the title's James Bond allusion) only serves to make "From Paris with Love" appear all the more slight.
The film is directed by Pierre Morel, who helmed another spy thriller, the surprising 2008 hit "Taken." Both were written (this one by Robert Mark Kaman) from a story idea by the French action filmmaker Luc Bison.
Like that film, which starred Liam Nelson, "Paris" turns drama stars into stealth, deadly spies. Alongside Travolta (Charlie Wax), Jonathan Rhys Meyers plays James Reese, an aide to the U.S. ambassador of France (Richard Durden).
But Reese is also a low-level secret agent for the CIA. He aspires to higher levels of intrigue and gets his shot when he's teamed with the veteran Wax. The two embark on a manic rampage of destruction, racking up double-digit bodies within minutes, in a desperate race to prevent terrorists from blowing up ungrateful politicians.
The not-so-subtle suggestion is that those who underestimate the terrorist threat or worry too much about protocol risk big trouble.
The ceiling for a movie like this is, at best, Guy Ritchie or John Woo territory — which is to say, quite low indeed. But the biggest thing standing in the way of "From Paris with Love" achieving even that standard is the laughable casting.
The Irish actor Rhys Meyers ("The Tudors," "Match Point") likely has some fans somewhere, but his pasty, hollow-cheeked look has always seemed more model than actor. But even his defenders would acknowledge he's not quite action movie material.
That needn't be an impediment; the fish-out-water is a standby of many a thriller. But in "From Paris With Love," his character, though inexperienced, quickly adapts to the carnage. (He does blink for one pseudo-poetic moment of reflection in front of a mirror.)
Reese, it turns out, is a tough, too. Contrary to his manicured appearance, he boasts that he's from a hard New York neighborhood. One foresees South Bronx crowds cackling in the theaters.
Having more fun is Travolta. With a shaved head, a thick goatee, an earring and a leather coat with an upturned collar draped by a scarf, he resembles a biker from Soho.
He throws himself fully into the film, but it never feels like anything more than action movie dress-up.
"From Paris with Love," a Lionsgate release, is rated R for bloody violence throughout, drug content, pervasive language and brief sexuality. Running time: 95 minutes. One star out of four.
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'Avatar' has 7th weekend on top with $31.3 million

2010-02-02T01:53:00.000-08:00

LOS ANGELES – James Cameron's science-fiction sensation "Avatar" remained on top of the domestic box office for the seventh-straight weekend, pulling in $31.3 million to raise its total to $595.8 million.
Worldwide, "Avatar" has topped $2 billion, a record that surpasses the $1.84 billion of Cameron's "Titanic," which had been the No. 1 modern blockbuster.
"Avatar" also is about to pass the domestic record of $600.8 million held by "Titanic."
The top 20 movies at U.S. and Canadian theaters Friday through Sunday, followed by distribution studio, gross, number of theater locations, average receipts per location, total gross and number of weeks in release, as compiled Monday by Hollywood.com are:
1. "Avatar," Fox, $31,280,029, 3,074 locations, $10,176 average, $595,752,416, seven weeks.
2. "Edge of Darkness," Warner Bros., $17,214,384, 3,066 locations, $5,615 average, $17,214,384, one week.
3. "When in Rome," Disney, $12,350,041, 2,456 locations, $5,029 average, $12,350,041, one week.
4. "The Tooth Fairy," Fox, $9,998,109, 3,345 locations, $2,989 average, $26,104,387, two weeks.
5. "The Book of Eli," Warner Bros., $8,908,286, 3,075 locations, $2,897 average, $74,511,765, three weeks.
6. "Legion," Sony Screen Gems, $7,176,375, 2,476 locations, $2,898 average, $29,022,786, two weeks.
7. "The Lovely Bones," Paramount, $4,726,828, 2,638 locations, $1,792 average, $38,005,738, eight weeks.
8. "Sherlock Holmes," Warner Bros., $4,515,344, 2,250 locations, $2,007 average, $197,601,522, six weeks.
9. "Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel," Fox, $3,997,136, 2,526 locations, $1,582 average, $209,294,997, six weeks.
10. "It's Complicated," Universal, $3,804,215, 2,096 locations, $1,815 average, $104,111,035, six weeks.
11. "The Blind Side," Warner Bros., $3,021,317, 1,751 locations, $1,725 average, $237,914,805, 11 weeks.
12. "Up in the Air," Paramount, $2,801,141, 1,430 locations, $1,959 average, $73,273,658, nine weeks.
13. "Extraordinary Measures," CBS Films, $2,619,257, 2,548 locations, $1,028 average, $10,445,568, two weeks.
14. "Crazy Heart," Fox Searchlight, $2,309,245, 239 locations, $9,662 average, $6,657,379, seven weeks.
15. "The Spy Next Door," Lions gate, $2,075,020, 1,851 locations, $1,121 average, $21,539,791, three weeks.
16. "Leap Year," Universal, $1,015,910, 1,135 locations, $895 average, $24,734,590, four weeks.
17. "The Princess and the Frog," Disney, $800,570, 728 locations, $1,100 average, $100,352,358, 10 weeks.
18. "To Save a Life," IDP-Samuel Goldwyn, $733,457, 440 locations, $1,667 average, $2,569,965, two weeks.
19. "Day breakers," Lions gate, $699,338, 725 locations, $965 average, $29,423,555, four weeks.
20. "The Young Victoria," Apparition, $584,399, 390 locations, $1,498 average, $8,271,771, seven weeks.
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