LOS ANGELES, California (X17online) - Iron Man snagged the #1 spot at the box office this weekend, raking in $100.7 million. Iron Man was directed by Jon Favreau and stars Robert Downey Jr. as Tony Stark (aka Iron Man).
Made of Honor took the number two spot and earned $15.5 million, while Baby Mama was third with $10.3 million.
LOS ANGELES, California (X17online) - Production is currently underway for Walt Disney Pictures' Hannah Montana: The Movie, starring teen actress and singing sensation Miley Cyrus. This will be the 15-year-old's first full-length feature film, and filming will take place in and around Nashville, Tennessee, as well as Los Angeles, California.
Peter Chelsom will direct the music-filled comedy adventure based on the Disney Channel's hit television series, Hannah Montana, in which Cyrus plays a teenage girl who lives a secret life as a pop star. The film features Cyrus' father Billy Ray Cyrus, and Hannah Montana series regulars Emily Osment, Jason Earles, Mitchel Musso, Moises Arias as well as Melora Hardin, Margo Martindale and Ugly Betty's Vanessa Williams. Hannah Montana: The Movie is scheduled for a Spring 2009 release.
The Disney Channel series, Hannah Montana reaches more than 164 million unique total viewers worldwide and has held the number one spot among children 6-14 on U.S. cable television for the past two years. Cyrus' 70-date concert tour, "Hannah Montana & Miley Cyrus: Best of Both Worlds" was a sell-out and among the top-grossing tours of 2007. Additionally, Forbes named Cyrus one of the Top-Earning Young Superstars, earning an estimated $18.2 million in 2007.
Cyrus recently finished her first solo album, which is scheduled for release in
July on Hollywood Records, and she will also be lending her voice to the upcoming Walt Disney Pictures' animated feature Bolt, which is slated to hit theaters later this fall.
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LOS ANGELES, California (X17online) - Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull took the number one spot at the box office and had the second biggest Memorial Day movie opening ever, according to studio estimates on Sunday.
The fourth installment of the Indiana Jones franchise took in an estimated $126 million, which is the biggest debut for a film in 2008. Additionally, after just four days in theaters, the film already holds the number three spot for total 2008 box office earnings, behind Iron Man (number one) and Dr. Seuss' Horton Hears a Who! (number two).
LOS ANGELES, California (X17online) - Oscar-winner Benicio del Toro was the unanimous choice for the Best Actor award at the Cannes Film Festival for his role as Che Guevara in Steven Soderbergh's Che, a four-hour film about the Latin American revolutionary.
Lifetime achievement awards went to actor-director Clint Eastwood (whose film The Changeling, starring Angelina Jolie debuted at the festival) as well as French actress Catherine Deneuve, who appeared in the dark comedy, A Christmas Tale.
The Best Actress award went to Brazil's Sandra Corveloni for her role as a pregnant single mother of four in Line of Passage. Turkey's Nuri Bilge Ceylan earned the Best Director award for his drama, Three Monkeys. The award for Best Screenplay went to Belgian brothers (and two-time Palme d'Or winners) Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne for The Silence of Lorna, a film about illegal immigration. The runner-up for the Grand Prize went to the Italian drama Gomorrah, while another Italian drama Il Divo won the Jury Prize.
The Palme d'Or was awarded to The Class, a drama based on the bestselling memoir of French teacher Francois Begaudeau. The film was shot documentary style and featured a cast of amateur teenage actors from different backgrounds. Actor and director Sean Penn, 47, who serves as the leader of the Cannes jury told reporters, "It's simply everything you'd want a film to give you...in a world that hungers for education and a voice, it just touched us deeply."
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LOS ANGELES, California (X17online) - Though some film critics predicted that Sex And The City might have a rough battle at the box office this weekend with Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, Carrie and the ladies easily took the number one spot and brought in $55.7 million for the film's opening weekend.
The film, which is based on the hit HBO television series created by Darren Star, also marks the biggest R-rated comedy opening of all time.
LOS ANGELES, California (X17online) - The fire that destroyed thousands of videotapes and numerous sets at Universal Studios on Sunday was caused by a roofing crew and determined to be an accident.
Los Angeles County fire officials said that the fire was started by "a roofing crew in the process of roof repair using new composite materials and open flame torch" who were working on the studio's New York Alley. The crew finished their work at approximately 3am, "maintained a fire watch for one hour" and then took a break. While the crew was on break, a security guard noticed the fire and alerted Universal who then called the Fire Department. Due to the "highly combustible materials, this fire quickly spread throughout the building and other adjacent buildings on the lot." Wind was not a factor in the blaze, and fortunately, no one was hurt.
LOS ANGELES, California (X17online) - DreamWorks animated feature, Kung Fu Panda took home $60 million and the number one spot at the box office this weekend. The comedy features the voices of Jack Black, Angelina Jolie, Lucy Liu and Seth Rogen among others, and ranked number nine on the all-time list of animated premieres.
Adam Sandler's latest comedy, You Don't Mess With the Zohan raked in $40 million and the number two spot, while Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull earned $22.8 million and snagged the number three spot. Sex and the City held the number four spot and earned $21.3 million.
LOS ANGELES, California (X17online) - New York City Opera has commissioned composer Charles Wuorinen to write an opera based on the Academy Award-winning film Brokeback Mountain, according to Reuters.
The opera house's spokesman Gerard Mortier said in a statement on Sunday that Wuorinen had accepted an offer to compose an opera based on the film. The opera is scheduled to premiere during City Opera's 2013 spring season.
Wuorinen, 70, said in a statement, "Ever since encountering Annie Proulx's extraordinary story I have wanted to make an opera on it, and it gives me great joy that Gerard Mortier and New York City Opera have given me the opportunity to do so."
The film won three Academy Awards, and the late Australian actor Heath Ledger was nominated for Best Actor for his role in the film.
LOS ANGELES, California - Steven Spielberg is looking to raise more than $1 billion to make DreamWorks an independent company that once again owns the films it makes, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
Spielberg reportedly wants to leave Paramount for Universal, but at the advice of his advisers, he has allowed the studios to bid for the rights to distribute future DreamWorks projects. Those looking to get involved include Paramount, Universal, Disney and Fox. Though many industry insiders believe Spielberg will remain at Paramount, Spielberg's contract with the studio runs until 2010, but he can terminate it early at year's end, perhaps for the right price.
LOS ANGELES, California (X17online) - The Incredible Hulk took the number one spot at the box office this weekend and earned $54.5 million, which marks the best opening ever for actor Edward Norton.
Kung Fu Panda held the number two spot with $34.3 mil, followed by The Happening which snagged the number three spot and $30.5 million.
You Don't Mess With the Zohan earned $16.4 million and the number four spot, while Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull continued it's impressive run, taking the number five spot and earning $13.5 million, making its domestic total $275.3 million.
LOS ANGELES, California (X17online) - Get Smart took the number one spot at the box office this weekend, earning $39.2 million. The film is based off of the television show of the same name, and stars Anne Hathaway and Steve Carell. The film's debut also marks the second-largest live-action comedy opener of 2008.
Kung Fu Panda held on to the number two spot with $21.7 million, while The Incredible Hulk brought in $21.6 million. The Love Guru, starring Mike Myers, Jessica Alba and Justin Timberlake took the number four spot and a disappointing $14 million.
LOS ANGELES, California (X17online) - Pixar's animated feature WALL-E earned $62.5 million and the number one spot at the box office this weekend, which marks the studio's ninth number one opener.
Wanted, starring Angelina Jolie came in second place with $51.1 million, which was higher than most critics had predicted. Get Smart continued it's impressive run, snagging the third place spot and earning an additional $20 million, making it's domestic gross $77.3 million.
LOS ANGELES, California (X17online) - Hancock took in $66 million and the number one spot at the box office this weekend, making it's total gross $107.3 million in it's five-and-a-half days of release. The film stars Will Smith as an unlikely superhero, as well as Charlize Theron and Jason Bateman.
Pixar's Wall-E earned the number two spot and brought in an additional $33.4 million, making it's gross to date over $100 million, while Wanted, starring Angelina Jolie came in at number three with an additional $20.6 million.
LOS ANGELES, California (X17online) - The American Federation of Television and Radio Artists' members approved the union's new deal with the studios yesterday, and despite feuding with the Screen Actor's Guild, around 62% of the voting members agreed to the deal, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
AFTRA president Roberta Reardon said late Tuesday,
"Today's vote reflects the ability of AFTRA members to recognize a solid contract when they see it. We were faced with an unprecedented situation of another union mounting a well-funded and ferocious attack on our contract-ratification process. In the face of that kind of attack, I think the percentage that ratified this contract is really good, and I'm thrilled."
SAG previously argued that a separate deal with AFTRA was not fair because it would lesser its clout at the bargaining table, and grumbled that the referendum was skewed by nonactor members of the union.
SAG president Alan Rosenberg said,
"Clearly, many Screen Actors Guild members responded to our education and outreach campaign and voted against the inadequate AFTRA agreement. We knew AFTRA would appeal to its many AFTRA-only members, who are news people, sportscasters and DJs, to pass the tentative agreement covering acting jobs. In its materials, AFTRA focused that appeal on the importance of actor members' increased contributions to help fund its broadcast members' pension and health benefits."
Reardon contested that Rosenberg was "grossly misinformed" about AFTRA's broadcasting membership, adding that less than 6%, of AFTRA's 70,000 members are broadcasters, while 90% of AFTRA's members are entertainers, including actors, announcers, comedians and dancers.
The Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers made its final offer to SAG on June 30, and the guild will meet with the AMPTP tomorrow to give its response to the offer, which is the same as AFTRA's contract, as well as those passed by the DGA and WGA members.
AFTRA's new contract includes a 10% increase in minimums over three years, employer contributions to health and retirement plans, continued consent for the use of actors clips outside promotional use, jurisdiction over programs produced for distribution on the Internet, as well as a new residual structure for paid Internet downloads.
The AMPTP said the AFTRA ratification was "a vote of confidence by actors."
LOS ANGELES, California (X17online) - HBO announced today that they are very interested in making a sequel to the Sex And The City movie, which grossed $55.7 million in it's opening weekend, and has earned $144.9 million to date.
Michael Lombardo, head of HBO programming on the west coast said:
"There is enormous interest by Warner Brothers Newline to do another Sex and the City, and I think, in fact, they're trying with our help to put that together now. When that happens, how long it will be, I can't say. I think everybody associated with that project was really heartened by, the enthusiasm from the fans of the show."
LOS ANGELES, California (X17online) - Hellboy II: The Golden Army took the number one spot at the box office this weekend, earning $35.9 million, while Will Smith's latest action film, Hancock, took the number two spot and $33 million in it's second week, making it's gross to date $165 million. Journey to the Center of the Earth, starring Brendan Fraser, took in a disappointing $20.6 million, and just barely managed to claim the number three spot from Pixar's Wall-E, which brought in an additional $18.5 million, making it's gross to date $162 million.
While this past weekend didn't have any smash hits, critics are already looking forward to this Friday, which will mark the opening of The Dark Knight, starring the late Heath Ledger and Christian Bale. Inside sources at at Warner Bros. have predicted that the film will make somewhere between $90 and $100 million, but other movie critics are predicting that the latest Batman installment could earn somewhere between $130 to $150 in it's opening weekend.
LOS ANGELES, California (X17online) - Fergie is the latest star to be added to the already stellar cast of the new film, Nine, according to Access Hollywood.
Nine is the film adaptation of the Broadway hit of the same name, and it was announced earlier this week that Kate Hudson would join the cast which includes Academy Award-winners Daniel Day-Lewis, Marion Cotillard, Nicole Kidman, Judi Dench and Sophia Loren, as well as Academy Award-nominee Penelope Cruz. The film begins shooting this October, and will be directed by Rob Marshall.
LOS ANGELES, California (X17online) - Yesterday it was announced that The Dark Knight broke the midnight opening record by bringing in $18.5 million, but after everything was tallied up from Friday night sales, the film ended up having the best opening day gross ever, with an estimated $60 to $63 million in ticket sales, according to Variety.
The film could potentially have the highest opening ever for a non-holiday weekend at this rate. The previous record holder for both best opening day and best opening for a non-holiday weekend is Spider-Man 3 which made $59.8 million on its opening Friday, and $151.1 million for the weekend.
LOS ANGELES, California (X17online) - The Dark Knight grossed a record breaking $158.4 million from Friday through Sunday, to earn the biggest three-day opening in box-office history. The film beat out the previous record holder, Spider-Man 3, which earned $151.1 million in its opening weekend. The Dark Knight also earned a record $6.2 million from 94 IMAX venues over the weekend (Spider-Man 3 held the previous record at $4.7 million).
Mamma Mia! came in at number two, with $27.6 million, which marks the biggest premiere ever for a movie musical, if early estimates are correct.
LOS ANGELES, California (X17online) - The Dark Knight has broken another box office record, this time for being the fastest film to break the $200 million mark. The film earned $203.8 million in the first five days of its release, after having the biggest opening weekend in box office history. The previous record holder was Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest, which took eight days to earn over $200 million in domestic ticket sales.
After it's $158.4 million opening weekend, the film took in $24.5 million on Monday and $20.9 million on Tuesday, which were the the best non-holiday Mondays and Tuesdays of all time.
LOS ANGELES, California (X17online) - Warner Bros. and Leonardo DiCaprio's production company, Appian Way are in the beginning stages of seeking material for a feature based on The Twilight Zone, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
Warner Bros. and Appian Way are currently looking for pitches and script ideas based on the show. The studio owns the rights to the episodes written by creator Rod Serling, and the companies are looking to create a continuous story line based on one or more episodes, rather than do a remake of the entire series.
In interviews, the Academy Award-nominated actor has named The Twilight Zone as his favorite show, so it should come as no surprise that he has decided to adopt this as his latest project.
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LOS ANGELES, California (X17online) - The Dark Knight held on to the number one spot at the box office this weekend, and took in an additional $75.6 million, bringing it's total domestic earnings to a staggering $312.4 million in just ten days.
The film's weekend earnings gave it the best second weekend gross in box office history, beating out Shrek 2's previous record of $72.2. Additionally, it is the fastest film to hit the $300 million domestic gross, in just ten days. The previous record holder, Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest took 13 days to reach the $300 million mark.
Step Brothers took the number two spot with $30 million, while Mama Mia snagged the number three spot and earned an additional $17.8 million this weekend.
LOS ANGELES, California (X17online) - Sony Pictures is moving forward with Venom, a potential Spider-Man spinoff based on the villian from Spiderman 3.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, the studio is developing the project in hopes that Venom could give some longevity to the aging Spider-Man franchise, much like Fox's X-Men franchise and the upcoming spinoff based on the character Wolverine.
Topher Grace played Venom in Spiderman 3, but his character was created by a parasite that attached itself to his body via a sticky substance, so the fact that Venom is a substance rather than a character gives Sony the option to cast a new actor for the role.
Sony is developing a fourth Spider-Man film for 2011, but wanted to do a spinoff with a new character in the meantime. The use of spinoffs based on other Spider-Man characters was a part of the licensing deal between Marvel and the studio.
LOS ANGELES, California (X17online) - For the third weekend, The Dark Knight held on to the number one spot at the box office, earning $43.8 million to make it's domestic gross $394.9 million. The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor snagged the number two spot with $42.5 million, while Step Brothers took in $16.3 million and claimed the number three spot.
Industry experts predict The Dark Knight will earn $400 million domestically either today or Tuesday. Jeffrey Goldstein, Warner Bros. executive vice president of distribution said, "It's a movie that has overperformed at every turn. To have a 42% drop in the third weekend is a tremendous hold. Everyone is going - everyone."
LOS ANGELES, California (X17online) - The Dark Knight hit the $400 million mark on its 18th day of release, beating the 43-day mark previously held by Shrek 2 in 2004. The Batman sequel, starring Christian Bale and the late Heath Ledger earned $6.3 million on Monday, adding to its previous domestic gross of $393.8 million.
Warners executive vice president Jeffrey Goldstein said yesterday, "The continued repeat business and the incredible movie itself just speak volumes."
Many industry experts are predicting that the film won't quite be able to catch up to Titantic's domestic gross of $600.8 million, or it's international gross of $1.84 billion, but The Dark Knight has already grossed around $611.3 million globally, so at this point only time will tell.
LOS ANGELES, California (X17online) - Judd Apatow's latest comedy, Pineapple Express earned $12.1 million on Wednesday, making it the highest opening Wednesday for the month of August. Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2 also opened on Wednesday, hoping to take advantage of children still being out of school, and to avoid the drop in moviegoers due to Friday night's telecast of the Olympics Opening Ceremony, according to Variety.
Pineapple Express goes up against The Dark Knight this weekend, which has earned a total of $410.7 million domestically. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Pineapple Express could potentially earn as much as $30 million this weekend, and over $40 million in its first five days of release, which is enough to win the weekend box office, as The Dark Knight is unlikely to reach $25 million in its fourth weekend.
LOS ANGELES, California (X17online) - The Dark Knight held onto the number one spot at the box office and earned an additional $26 million this weekend, bringing its domestic gross to $441.5 million, which gives it the number three spot on the all-time box office performers list, just behind Star Wars at $460.9 million, which it is expected to beat this week.
The stoner comedy Pineapple Express brought in $22.4 million over the weekend, and since it opened on Wednesday it has earned $40.7 million. The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor earned $16.1 million and secured the number three spot.
LOS ANGELES, California (X17online) - The stars weren't the only ones who attended the Los Angeles premiere of Tropic Thunder last night; numerous protesters showed up and boycotted the movie, shouting things like, "Ban the movie!" and "Tropic Thunder colossal blunder!"
Advocacy groups became outraged at the film's portrayal of the mentally handicapped, as well as Robert Downey Jr.'s blackface, calling the movie offensive and racist. Despite the protests, all the film's actors showed up and seemed unfazed by the protesters. Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes attended the premiere as well, and insiders tell to X17online Cruise's comedic cameo as a film studio executive is brilliant.
LOS ANGELES, California (X17online) - Tropic Thunder earned an estimated $26 million over the weekend, beating out The Dark Knight for the number one spot at the box office.
The Dark Knight earned $16.8 million in it's fifth weekend, bringing it's domestic earnings to $471.5 million. The animated Star Wars: The Clone Wars earned $15.5 million and snagged the number three spot.
LOS ANGELES, California (X17online) - Tropic Thunder held onto the number one spot at the box office and earned $16.1 million over the weekend, bringing it's domestic gross to $65.7 million.
The House Bunny snagged the number two spot with $15.1 million, while Death Race claimed the number three spot with $12.3 million. The Dark Knight brought in $10.3 million in it's sixth weekend, bringing its total domestic earnings to $489.2 million.
LOS ANGELES, California (X17online) - West Wing and Studio 60 writer Aaron Sorkin is currently in negotiations to write an untitled film about the founders of Facebook, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
Sorkin broke the news when he created his own Facebook group last week. On the page he writes, "I've just agreed to write a movie for Sony and producer Scott Rudin about how Facebook was invented. I figured a good first step in my preparation would be finding out what Facebook is, so I've started this page." Sorkin even asks group members to share their own Facebook stories.
Facebook was founded by Mark Zuckerberg and his Harvard roommates, Dustin Moskovitz and Chris Hughes. Initially, only Harvard students could join, but the networking site quickly expanded to all Ivy League schools and then all universities in the United States. The next step was adding all high schools in the U.S. and Canada, and now over 100 million people all over the globe are members.
LOS ANGELES, California (X17online) - With films such as The Dark Knight, Iron Man, and Indiana Jones 4, the 2008 summer box office has gone above and beyond expectations, and it may even come close to beating the records held last summer. Led by the third installments of the Spiderman and Shrek franchises, the summer 2007 box office earnings passed the $4 billion mark domestically, which was the highest gross on record.
The summer box office comes to a close on Labor Day, and many critics expect the box office earnings from this summer to come close to last summer's domestic gross of $4.16 billion, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
LOS ANGELES, California (X17online) - Bangkok Dangerous was the number one movie at the box office this weekend, bringing in $7.8 million, while Tropic Thunder finished second with $7.5 million, according to The Hollywood Reporter. The Dark Knight snagged the number three spot with $5.7 million, making it's domestic gross $512.2 million.
LOS ANGELES, California (X17online) - The Coen brother's latest film, Burn After Reading took the number one spot at the box office, earning an estimated $19.4 million in it's opening weekend. Brad Pitt, George Clooney, John Malkovich and Oscar-winners Frances McDormand and Tilda Swinton star in the dark comedy about a group of individuals who become involved after obtaining secret CIA information.
Tyler Perry's The Family That Preys snagged the number two spot with $18 million, while the De Niro and Pacino thriller Righteous Kill took the number three spot with $16.5 million.
LOS ANGELES, California (X17online) - Disney's "Beverly Hills Chihuahua" was the top dog at this weekend's box office-barking up an estimated $29 million, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
Shia LaBeouf's thriller "Eagle Eye" was next-taking another $17.7 million in its second week in release. Rounding out the top three was "Nick and Nora's Infinite Play List" with $12 million.
According to Nielsen EDI, the top 10 films' total haul of $91 million was up 11% over last weekend's, and it amounted to a 44% jump over the comparable weekend last year when the top-grossing movie, "The Game Plan," grossed $16.6 million.
LOS ANGELES, California (X17online) - Disney's "Beverly Hills Chihuahua" claimed the top spot at the weekend box office for the second week in a row, earning an estimated $17.5 million, according to figures out today from Nielsen EDI.
"Quarantine," a horror-thriller from Sony Screen Gems opened in the second spot with $14.2 million.
Many had predicted Leonard DiCaprio's "Body of Lies" would capture the top spot. Instead, the thriller from Warner Brothers could only manage third place-earning $13.1 million.
Even with the tough economic times around the country, the total weekend box office take was up 4% over last year with a total take of $104 million.
LOS ANGELES, California (X17online) - Mark Wahlberg's action film "Max Payne" debuted in the top spot at this weekend's box office. The movie took in an estimated $18 million dollars in its opening weekend.
Oliver Stone's George W. Bush biopic, "W" opened in fourth place, bring in just over $10 million dollars.
Number one for the last two weeks, "Beverly Hills Chihuahua" dropped to second place, bringing in another $11.2 million. The live-action comedy has earned nearly $70 million in its three weeks of release.
The third spot went to "The Secret Life of Bees," which took in $11.1 million. The film stars Dakota Fanning, Queen Latifah, Jennifer Hudson, Alicia Keys and Sophie Okonedo in a drama about a troubled teen learning life lessons through the beekeeping operations of three Southern sisters.
LOS ANGELES, California (X17online) - Disney's "High School Musical 3: Senior Year" was tops at the weekend's box office-earning an estimated $40 million, according to Variety.
"HSM3" set records for the best opening weekend ever for a musical and for the best opening by a live-action G-rated film. The film was also number one in nearly all of the major European markets.
The second spot went to "Saw V" with $30 million in ticket sales.
Mark Wahlberg's "Max Payne" fell to third place with $7.6 million. The video game adaptation has now made $29.7 million overall.
LOS ANGELES, California (X17online) - Zac Efron and his "High School Musical 3" classmates once again took the top spot at the weekend box office, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
The film brought in an estimated $15 million, bringing its two week take to $61.8 million.
Industry experts say Halloween activities kept audiences away from the theaters. In all, theater goers spent an estimated $84 million at theaters this weekend, a drop of 37% over the same time last year.
Other films opening this weekend include the R-rated comedy "Zack and Miri Make a Porno," which opened in second place with $10.7 million. "The Haunting of Holly Hartley," with "Gossip Girl" star Chace Crawford took in $6 million, reportedly in-line with industry expectations.
Looking ahead, four films open wide this Friday. They include DreamWorks Animation's "Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa," Universal's R-rated comedy "Role Models," MGM's "Soul Men," with Bernie Mac and Samuel L. Jackson and Lionsgate's rock musical "Repo: The Genetic Opera."
LOS ANGELES, California (X17online) - Kim Cattrall says there will be another "Sex and The City" movie.
The actress revealed the news on Britain's The Paul O'Grady Show.
Asked point blank, "Will there be a sequel?" Cattrall replied, "Yes there will!"
Later at an event in London, Cattrall talked more about the sequel plans.
"The fans keep saying, 'Yes, one more,'" Cattrall said. "The movie was so much fun to do and be part of again."
Kim also said she's eager to get her hands on the script and find out what new dramas are in store for the now single Samantha.
"Samantha single is more fun that you can ever imagine," Cattrall said.
LOS ANGELES, California (X17online) - Dreamworks Animation's "Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa" earned an estimated $63.5 million in its opening weekend.
"Role Models," an R-rated comedy from Universal, was second with $19.3 million in ticket sales.
"High School Musical 3: Senior Year" continued to perform well. The Disney film brought in another $9.3 million, bringing its total take to $75.7 million in just 17 days of release.
Angelina Jolie's "Changeling" earned $7.3 million in fourth place, while "Zack and Miri Make a Porn" was fifth.
Industrywide, the weekend's $148 million in collective boxoffice represented a big 30% improvement over the same frame a year earlier, according to Nielsen EDI. The industry has marked year-over-year upticks six of the past seven weekends.
LOS ANGELES, California (X17online) - James Bond blasted away the competition at the box office this weekend, as "Quantum Of Solace" brought in an estimated $70.4 million - that's the biggest opening for a Bond film ever.
The weekend take brings the film's world wide gross to more than $322 million.
"Madascar: Escape 2 Africa" had a strong second week, earning another $36.1 million.
Also still going strong, the Seann William Scott comedy "Role Models," which earned $11.1 million in third place.
Fourth place went to "High School Musical 3: Senior Year," which pulled in another $5.9 million. Angelina Jolie's "Changeling" was fifth, earning $4.2 million.
LOS ANGELES, California (X17online) - More than a thousand midnight screenings of the teen vampire movie "Twilight" sold out Friday morning.
In Los Angeles, pairs of tickets were hawked for upwards of $50 on Craigslist. On Facebook, members were planning their opening-night wardrobe.
Many theater owners said they were adding additional showtimes - some as late as 2:45 a.m. Friday - to meet the demand for tickets.
"Twilight" currently represents more than 94 percent of all weekly ticket sales on the Fandango's Internet ticket broker's Web site.
"It's our fastest ticket-seller since 'The Dark Knight,'" Rick Butler, chief operating officer of Fandango, said in a statement.
"The impressive advance ticket sales are clearly the result of the growing Internet buzz from the novel's online fans. There are so many moviegoers staying up late to see the movie at midnight that 'Twilight' might single-handedly boost coffee sales on Friday morning."
Hollywood experts expect the film to bring in upwards of $60 million dollars in its first weekend of release.
LOS ANGELES, California (X17online) - Universal Studios has signed a long term deal that allows them to continue making films based on the Jason Bourne character, the studio announced today.
The studio's three "Bourne" movies, starring Matt Damon, have grossed nearly $1 billion worldwide.
"The Bourne films have redefined the action genre with their smart and fast-paced approach," said President of Production for Universal Pictures Donna Langley. "We look forward to bringing more Bourne stories to fans all over the globe."
A fourth "Bourne" film is currently in development. Matt Damon has agreed to return as Jason Bourne and Paul Greengrass is set to direct.
LOS ANGELES, California (X17online) - "Twilight" took a huge bite out of the weekend box office, bringing in an estimated $70.6 million in its first weekend of release, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
Last weekend's top film, "Quantum of Solace," earned another $27.4 million for second place, bringing its two-week total to more than $109 million in the US.
Disney's animated feature "Bolt" debuted in third with an estimated $27 million in ticket sales.
Overall it was another strong weekend at the box office. Total ticket sales were more than $169 million, a four percent increase over the same period last year according to Neilson EDI.
LOS ANGELES, California (X17online) - The romantic comedy "Four Christmases" topped the box office over the Thanksgiving weekend.
The film with Reese Witherspoon and Vince Vaughn playing a couple struggling to visit all four of their divorced parents on Christmas, brought in $31.7 million over the three-day weekend.
Disney's animated "Bolt" tooks econd place with $26.6 million, just ahead of last week's top earner, the vampire film "Twilight," at $26.4 million.
The James Bond thriller "Quantum of Solace," which came in fourth place this weekend, has raked in the most total ticket sales since its debut two weeks ago, with $142 million.
"Australia" racked up $14.8 million, while "Transporter 3" earned $12.3 million.
In eighth place, "Role Models" brought in $5.28 million, followed by "The Boy in the Striped Pajamas" at $1.69 million.
"Milk" rounded up the top ten in its debut weekend with $1.38 million in ticket sales.
The top 12 films grossed $156.7 million this weekend, more than twice the amount in the same period last year, according to the industry experts.
LOS ANGELES, California (X17online) - Anne Hathaway's "Rachel Getting Married" was nominated for six 2009 Film Independent's Spirit Awards on Tuesday.
The film's six nods tied the film with "Ballast" and "Frozen River" for the most nominations.
"Rachel Getting Married" earned nominations for best feature, best director for Jonathan Demme, best first screenplay for Jenny Lumet, best female lead for Anne Hathaway and best supporting female for Rosemarie DeWitt and Debra Winger.
Sean Penn was nominated for best male lead for his performance in "MILK."
James Franco received a best supporting male nomination for his work in the same film.
The 2009 Film Independent Spirit Awards ceremony will be broadcast on the Independent Film Channel on Feb. 21.
LOS ANGELES, California (X17online) - Reese WItherspoon and Vince Vaughn's comedy "Four Christmases" topped the weekend box office for the second week in a row, bringing in another $18.2 million in Christmas cheer.
The film has earned an estimated $70.8 million in twelve days of release.
The teen vampire romance "Twilight" also continued it's strong run, earning $13.2 million for second place.
Disney's animated "Bolt" was third with $9.7 million, while "Australia" and "Quantum of Solace" took fourth and fifth place.
Despite the tough economic conditions, Hollywood continues to outperform last year's holiday season, with revenues up for the fifth weekend in a row.
The top 12 movies took in $77.5 million, a 6 percent increase from the same weekend in 2007, when "The Golden Compass" opened at No. 1 with $25.8 million, according to the Associated Press.
LOS ANGELES, California ( X17online) - Brad Pitt's "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" and Sean Penn's "Milk" garnered the most nominations for the Critics' Choice Awards with eight nominations each.
Other best-picture nominees announced Tuesday: "Changeling," "The Dark Knight," "Doubt," "Frost/Nixon," "The Reader," "Slumdog Millionaire," "WALL-E" and "The Wrestler."
Along with Pitt and Penn, best-actor nominees include Clint Eastwood, "Gran Torino"; Richard Jenkins, "The Visitor"; Frank Langella, "Frost/Nixon"; and Mickey Rourke, "The Wrestler."
Nominated for best actress are Kate Beckinsale, "Nothing But the Truth"; Cate Blanchett, "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button"; Anne Hathaway, "Rachel Getting Married"; Angelina Jolie, "Changeling"; Melissa Leo, "Frozen River"; and Meryl Streep, "Doubt."
Nominees are chosen by the Broadcast Film Critics Association. The awards will be handed out on January 8th.
LOS ANGELES, California (X17online) - The Los Angeles Film Critics Association has selected the animated smash "WALL-E" as their pick for best picture of 2008.
"The Dark Knight" was chosen as runner up.
The honors, announced Tuesday, included citations for Sean Penn as best actor in "Milk" and Sally Hawkins as best actress for "Happy-Go-Lucky."
The late Heath Ledger was named best supporting-actor for his role as the Joker in "The Dark Knight." Penelope Cruz is the group's supporting-actress choice for "Vicky Cristina Barcelona."
Danny Boyle was given the directing honor for "Slumdog Millionaire."
LOS ANGELES, California (X17online) - "Frost/Nixon," "Doubt," and "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" were the top Golden Globe nominees announced Thursday, with each movie receiving five nominations.
In the best motion picture drama category, "Frost" and "Button" are up against "The Reader," "Revolutionary Road," and "Slumdog Millionaire."
While, "Burn After Reading," "Happy-Go-Lucky," "In Bruges," "Mamma Mia!," and "Vicky Cristina Barcelona" are up for best motion picture comedy or musical.
Angelina Jolie scored a nomination for best actress in a motion picture for "Changeling" (also in that category are Anne Hathaway, Meryl Streep, Kristin Scott Thomas and Kate Winslet), while Brad Pitt earned a nod for best actor in a motion picture for "The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button."
Also nominated in the best actor category: Leonardo DiCaprio ("Revolutionary Road"), Sean Penn ("Milk"), Frank Langella ("Frost/Nixon") and Mickey Rourke ("The Wrestler").
The best supporting actor category pits the late Heath Ledger ("The Dark Knight") against Tom Cruise ("Tropic Thunder"), Robert Downey Jr. ("Tropic Thunder"), Philip Seymour Hoffman ("Doubt"), and Ralph Fiennes ("The Duchess").
In the television categories, "Dexter," "House," "In Treatment," "Mad Men," and "True Blood" were nominated for best drama.
"Californication," "Entourage," "The Office," "30 Rock," and "Weeds" are the nominees for best comedy or musical.
The awards will be handed out in Beverly Hills on January 11th.
LOS ANGELES, California (X17online) - The science fiction thriller "The Day the Earth Stood Still" was the number one movie at the box office this weekend.
The re-make of the 1951 cult classic starring Keanu Reeves brought in an estimated $31 million to take the top spot.
Second was the comedy "Four Christmases," starring Reese Witherspoon and Vince Vaughn who play a couple struggling to visit all four of their divorced parents on Christmas, which earned an estimated $13.3 million.
The vampire romance "Twilight" continued to do well, earning another $8 million - good enough for third place - and brining its four-week gross over the $150 million mark.
Disney's animated "Bolt" and Nicole Kidman's "Australia" rounded out the top five.
LOS ANGELES, California (X17online) - American Film Institute has released its annual top-ten list of what it deems the year's best films.
The films honored, in alphabetical order, are: "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button," "The Dark Knight," "Frost/Nixon," "Frozen River," "Gran Torino," "Iron Man," "Milk," 'Wall-E," "Wendy and Lucy," and "The Wrestler."
AFI awards are selected with a 13-person jury process where members discuss and debate the merits of titles and provide detailed rationale for each selection.
The jury is composed of "scholars, film artists, critics and AFI trustees."
LOS ANGELES, California (X17online) - "Doubt," received five Screen Actors Guild Awards nominations Thursday, the most of any film.
"Doubt" scored a best cast performance nod (the award's version of best picture) along with "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button," "Frost/Nixon," "Milk," and "Slumdog Millionaire."
Meryl Streep was nominated for best actress in "Doubt," she'll be up against Kate Winslet in "Revolutionary Road," Anne Hathaway in "Rachel Getting Married," Angelina Jolie in "Changeling," and Melissa Leo in "Frozen River."
Nominated for best actor were: Richard Jenkins in "The Visitor," Frank Langella in "Frost/Nixon," Sean Penn in "Milk," Brad Pitt in "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" and Mickey Rourke in "The Wrestler."
The 15th Annual SAG awards will be handed out on January 25th.
LOS ANGELES, California (X17online) - Severe winter weather is being blamed for a lackluster weekend at the box office.
The Jim Carey comedy "Yes Man" opened at number one, bringing in $18.2 million according to studio estimates.
Will Smith's "Seven Pounds" was second with $16 million.
Both films had been expected to earn at least $5 million more in their opening weekend.
Studio execs say powerful winter storms in many parts of the mid-west and northeast kept people away from theaters.
In third place was the animated "The Tales of Despereaux," earning $10.5 million.
Surrounded by Oscar buzz, "The Wrestler" had the best per-screen average this weekend. The film averaged more than $52 thousand per screen.
The top 12 movies took in $82.8 million, down 44 percent from the same weekend last year, according to the associated press.
LOS ANGELES, California (X17online) - Jennifer Aniston's "Marley & Me" debuted in first place at the holiday weekend box office, bringing in an estimated $51.7 million since its opening on Christmas day.
Adam Sandler's "Bedtime Stories" was second, with $28.1 million for the weekend.
Brad Pitt's "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" was third, earning an estimated $27 million.
It was certainly a happy holiday season for Hollywood. Ticket sales had plunged the previous two weekends, but Hollywood ended the year on a high note as the top 12 movies took in $182.5 million, up 8 percent from the same weekend in 2007.
LOS ANGELES, California (X17online) - "The Dark Knight" swept the People's Choice Awards Wednesday night in Los Angeles, winning the award in every category it was nominated.
The latest Batman movie took home five awards, including favorite cast, superhero, action movie and on-screen match-up for Christian Bale's Batman and Heath Ledger's Joker.
Brad Pitt was named favorite leading man, while his partner Angelina Jolie was voted favorite female action star.
The animated film "WALL-E" picked up the award for favorite family movie, while "27 Dresses" took home the comedy award and "The Secrete Life of Bees" was voted best drama. "Bees" was also named favorite independent movie.
Will Smith received two crystal awards, winning favorite male movie star and male action hero.
Reese Witherspoon was singled out as the favorite female movie star and Kate Hudson was people's choice for favorite leading lady.
LOS ANGELES, California (X17online) - The Directors Guild of America has announced the nominees for the guild's best director award.
The nominees are: Christopher Nolan ("The Dark Knight"); Danny Boyle ("Slumdog Millionaire"); David Fincher ("The Curious Case of Benjamin Button"); Ron Howard ("Frost/Nixon"); and Gus Van Sant ("Milk").
Nolan and Boyle are first time nominees while Van Sant was previously nominated for "Good Will Hunting." Ron Howard has been named best director by the DGA twice for "Apollo 13" and "A Beautiful Mind."
David Fincher received a DGA award for commercial directing.
The DGA awards are one of the strongest predictors of future Oscar success. Just six times in the award's history has the winner not gone on to receive an Oscar.
LOS ANGELES, California (X17online) - Clint Eastwood's "Grand Torino" took home the box office title in its first weekend of wide release.
Growing word of mouth and Oscar-buzz helped the film to bring in $30 million this weekend according to industry estimates.
It's the best opening weekend of Eastwood's long career.
The dueling bridezillias in "Bride Wars" came in second with $21.5 million, followed by the horror film "Th Unborn" with $21.1 million.
Marley & Me," the Jennifer Aniston and Owen Wilson's family dog tale that topped the box office the last two weekends, fell to fourth with $11.4 million for a three week total of $124 million.
LOS ANGELES, California (X17online) - This year's Oscar presenters will be as much of a surprise as the winners.
On Wednesday, The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences said none of the stars who will present the awards will be announced prior to the February 22 ceremony.
The producers of the show hope the move will lure in more viewers.
"There will be fantastic movie stars that appeal to a whole range of movie lovers and fans of our show. We're just not going to tell you who they all are," a spokesperson for the Academy said.
Hugh Jackman will host the ceremony from the Kodak Theater in Hollywood.
LOS ANGELES, California (X17online) - Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie are among the nominees for this year's British Academy film award.
Pitt picked up a BAFTA nomination for best actor and his film "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" is up for a total of 11 awards - including best picture.
Jolie got the nod in the best actress category for "Changeling." She's up against double Golden Globe winner Kate Winslet - who is nominated twice in the BAFTA best actress category for her performances in "The Reader" and "Revolutionary Road." Meryl Streep and Kristin Scott Thomas round out the best actress competition.
In the best actor category, Pitt is joined by fellow nominees Dev Patel from "Slumdog Millionaire"; Sean Penn in "Milk"; Frank Langella for "Frost/Nixon"; and Mikey Rourke in "The Wrestler."
The late Heath Ledger was nominated for best supporting actor for his role as The Joker in "The Dark Knight."
The winners will be announced at London's Royal Opera House on February 8th.
LOS ANGELES, California (X17online) - This year's Sundance Film Festival marks the annual trek of filmmakers and celebrities from Hollywood to the snow covered mountains of Park City, Utah.
Among the big names expected to promote films include, Ben Affleck, Kristen Stewart, Ashton Kutcher, Jim Carrey and Ewan McGregor.
Stewart, whose star power rose this year with the success of "Twilight," will be there in support of her film "Adventureland" from the director of "Superbad."
Ben Affleck is going not as an actor, but as a producer. His documentary about refugees in the Congo is set to debut at the festival.
Ashton Kutcher will be there to promote his film about the dark side of Hollywood called "Spread."
Jim Carrey and Ewan McGregor will introduce their film "I Love You Phillip Morris."
While at the ski resort, the stars will also have a chance to meet with film makers at a number of parties and pick up some free swag at "gifting" events throughout the festival.
LOS ANGELES, California (X17online) - Even with a full slate of Oscar contenders in theaters, movie goers flocked to see a light hearted comedy staring a former sit-com actor.
"Paul Blart: Mall Cop," with Kevin James in the title role was the number one movie at the box office this weekend, earning an estimated $33.8 million dollars.
Last week's top film, "Grand Torino" had another strong weekend, earning an additional $22.2 million.
Opening in fourth place was the hip-hop biopic "Notorious." The film which charts the life and death of rapper Biggie Smalls earned $21.5 million.
Also in the top five, "My Bloody Valentine" earned $21.9 million and "Hotel for Dogs" which brought in $17.7 million.
LOS ANGELES, California (X17online) - "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" leads the pack of Oscar contenders with 13 nominations, it was announced this morning in Beverly Hills.
"Button" was nominated in nearly ever major category including best picture and director; Brad Pitt also received a nomination for best actor.
The Mumbai-set "Slumdog Millionaire," scored 10 nominations including best picture.
One of the year's most popular films, "The Dark Knight," was passed over for a best picture nomination and best director nomination, however, the late Heath Ledger got a posthumous nod for his role as The Joker.
Angelina Jolie was nominated for best actress, along with Meryl Streep, Kate Winslet, Anne Hathaway and Melissa Leo.
The Oscars will be handed out on February 22 at the Kodak Theater in Hollywood.
CLICK HERE for a complete list of Oscar Nominees
LOS ANGELES, California (X17online) - "Taken" a thriller staring Liam Neeson as a former spy trying to rescue his daughter, took the top spot at the weekend box office.
The brought in $24.6 million in its first weekend of release.
After two weeks in the top spot, "Paul Blart: Mall Cop" slipped to second place earning another $14 million.
"The Uninvited," a remake of the 2003 South Korean thriller that pits two sisters against their potentially evil stepmother. It earned $10.5 million for third place.
In fourth was "Hotel for Dogs" with $8.7 million, followed by "Gran Torino" with $8.6 million.
LOS ANGELES, California (X17online) - More than 100 Academy Award Nominees gathered on Monday at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills for the annual Oscar Luncheon.
It was a chance for all the nominees to meet and marks the official kick off to the coveted awards which will be handed out on February 22nd at the Kodak Theater in Hollywood.
Best supporting actor nominee Robert Downey Jr told the LA Times that he never expected his comedic role in "Tropic Thunder" would land him a nomination.
"No way I could look at the script and say, 'It’s Oscar time!' " Downey Jr. joked.
Best supporting actress nominee Anne Hathaway said that as a child, she confused the Oscars telecast with the Miss America pageant.
"I would wear a crown and put it on to watch the Oscars,†Hathaway told the LA Times.
Nominees Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie skipped the luncheon. No reason was given for the couple's absence.
LOS ANGELES, California (X17online) - "Slumdog Millionaire" racked up another impressive showing this awards season, collecting seven British Academy Awards Sunday Night.
The film won Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Adapted Screenplay as well as awards for music, cinematography, edited and sound.
Mickey Rourke was named Best Actor for his performance in "The Wrestler."
Kate Winslet's performance in "The Reader" earned her the Best Actress award.
Heath Ledger's turn as the Joker in "The Dark Knight" earn the late actor a best supporting actor nod.
Best supporting actress was handed to Penelope Cruz for "Vicky Cristina Barcelona."
LOS ANGELES, California (X17online) - The surprise hit "Slumdog Millionaire" took home 8 awards, including Best Picture, at Sunday Night's 81st Annual Academy Awards.
The film's Danny Boyle was named Best Director.
Kate Winslet took the award for Best Actress for her performance in "The Reader."
"Let me tell you, winning is really a lot better than losing," Winslet, a six-time nominee, said. "A lot better."
Sean Penn was named Best Actor for his portrayal of slain civil rights activist Harvey Milk in "Milk." This is the second time Penn has won the award.
"You commie, homo-loving sons of guns," Penn began in accepting the prize. "I did not expect this and I want it to be very clear that I do know how hard I make it to appreciate me often."
Penelope Cruz won the Oscar in the Supporting Actress category for her work in "Vicky Cristina Barcelona." Taking the stage, she asked: "Has anyone ever fainted here? I might be the first one."
As expected, the Academy named the late Heath Ledger as Best Supporting Actor for his role as "The Joker" in "The Dark Knight." Ledger's father, mother and sister accepted the award on his behalf.
"When he came home for Christmas a year ago, he had been sending me shots and bits of pieces from the film," sister Kate Ledger said. "And I said to him, 'I have a feeling this is it for you; you're going to get a nomination for this from the Academy.' And he just looked at me and smiled. So he knew."
LOS ANGELES, California (X17online) - While it's the movies that are being honored, fashion is often what people end up talking about on Oscar night.
This year's red carpet didn't disappoint with many stars looking beautiful and glamourous, with just a few of the inevitable "what was their stylist thinking" fashion faux pas.
Best Supporting Actress winner Penelope Cruz was just one of the women who made white the color of the night.
Best Actor Nominee Mickey Rourke was one of the few men who showed some flair on the red carpet, wearing a white wool tux by John Paul Gaultier.
Cruz looked stunning in a vintage Pierre Balmain halter dress she discovered at a consignment store. "I thought, some day I will come back and get this dress for something very special. And I came back to the place and I asked for the dress and it was still there and it still fit. So I do have a love affair with this dress,†Cruz told the LA Times.
Hollywood's golden couple Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie bucked the white trend by wearing black. Pitt work a slim cut tuxedo by Tom Ford, while Jolie wore and elegant, strapless gown by Elie Saab.
LOS ANGELES, California (X17online) - Jake Gyllenhaal and Jim Carrey are set to take the classic musical Damn Yankees to the big screen, according to Variety.
The musical, which originally opened on Broadway in 1955, tells the story of Joe Boyd, a married man who makes a deal with the devil to give up his soul in exchange for the chance to become a big league baseball star.
Carrey is set to play the devil and Jake will play the baseball-loving Joe.
Damn Yankees is expected to hit theaters late next year.
LOS ANGELES, California (X17online) - Warner Brother's "Watchmen" took the top spot at this weekend's box office, taking in an estimated $55.7 million.
It was the best opening of the year and one of the best ever for an R-rated movie.
In second place, Tyler Perry's "Madea Goes to Jail" which added another $8.8 million, brining its total to $76.5 million. It is now Perry's highest grossing film.
Rounding out the top five, "Taken," "Slumdog Millionaire," and "Mall Cop."
LOS ANGELES, California (X17online) - The Disney adventure "Race To Witch Mountain" topped the weekend box office, bringing in an estimated $25 million dollars in it's first weekend of release.
"Watchmen" dropped to second place, earning $18 million, according to studio estimates.
"The Last House on the Left" earned $14.7 million in third place, while "Taken" and " Madea Goes to Jail" rounded out the top five with $6.7 and $5.1 million dollars respectively.
Best Picture winner "Slumdog Millionaire" continued to perform well, just missing the top five with $5 million in ticket sales.
LOS ANGELES, California (X17online) - MGM is moving forward with plans for the big screen return of "The Three Stooges."
Oscar winner Sean Peen has been set to play Larry, while the studio is reportedly close to closing a deal with Jim Carrey to play Curly.
Carrey will reportedly gain at least 40 pounds for the role. Benicio Del Toro will play Moe.
The film is not a biopic, but rather a comedy built around the antics of the three characters that Moe Howard, Larry Fine and Howard played in the Columbia Pictures shorts, according to Variety.
Production is set to begin later this fall after Penn completes work on "Cartel."
LOS ANGELES, California (X17online) - Dreamworks Animation newest 3D feature "Mosters vs Aliens" topped the weekend box office race, bringing in $58.2 million, the biggest opening ever for a 3D film.
"The Haunting in Connecticut" from Lionsgate, had a strong opening in second place with $23 million. Nicolas Cage's "Knowing" took third place with $14.7 million in its second week of release.
Rounding out the top five, "I Love You Man," which earned $12.6 million for fourth and Julia Roberts "Duplicity," which collected another $7.6 million for fifth place.
LOS ANGELES, California (X17online) - In the largest weekend opening since "The Dark Knight," the latest installment of the "Fast & Furious" franchise hauled in an estimated $72.5 million dollars in its opening weekend.
The film was Universal's best opening film ever, as well as the best ever opening for a film in April.
DreamWorks animated "Monsters Vs. Aliens" dropped to second place, earning a still respectable $33.5 million. "The Haunting in Connecticut" finished third with an estimated $9.5 million in ticket sales.
Rounding out the top five are "Knowing" and "I Love You Man" with $8.1 and $7.8 million in ticket sales respectively.
In all this was a huge weekend for Hollywood, with ticket sales up an astronomical 80 percent over the same period last year.
LOS ANGELES, California (X17online) - Zac Efron's "17 Again" easily won this weekend's box office race, proving the "High School Musical" star can open a film for a studio other than Disney.
The floppy-haired heartthrob's comedy brought in an estimated $24.1 million in it's opening weekend, easily beating Russell Crow's political-thriller "State of Play," which earned only $14.1 million.
Dreamworks' animated "Monsters Vs Aliens" took third place with another $12.9 million, while last week's top flick Miley Cyrus' "Hannah Montana: The Movie" dropped to fourth with $12.6 million in ticket sales - just slightly ahead of the $12.2 million "Fast and Furious" brought in to take the fifth spot.
LOS ANGELES, California (X17online) - With a huge $87 million gross, "X-Men Origins: Wolverine" easily took the top spot at this weekend's box office.
It was the best ever non-holiday opening for a 20th Century Fox film, according to Variety.
"Ghosts of Girlfriends Past" came in a distant second with a still respectable $15.3 million.
"Obsessed" continued to perform well, bringing in another $12.2 million in its second week of release.
While "17 Again" and "Monsters Vs. Aliens" rounded out the top five with $6.3million and $5.8 million respectively.
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LOS ANGELES, California (X17online) - "Twilight" and "Slumdog Millionaire" are up for seven awards each at this years' MTV Movie Awards. The two films tied for most nominations with seven a piece including Best Movie.
The other flicks rounding out the Best Movie category are The Dark Knight, High School Musical 3: Senior Year and Iron Man.
In addition to Rob Pattinson (Twilight) and Dev Patel (Slumdog Millionaire), the Breakthrough Performance Male category consists of Ben Barnes (The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian) and Bobb'e J. Thompson (Role Models). The Breakthrough Performance Female selections include Freida Pinto (Slumdog Millionaire), Ashley Tisdale (HSM 3), Vanessa Hudgens (HSM 3) and Miley Cyrus (Hannah Montana: The Movie).
The Best Female Performance nominees include Kristin Stewart (Twilight), Anne Hathaway (Bride Wars), Angelina Jolie (Wanted) and Kate Winslet (The Reader), while other Best Male Performance noms went to Zac Efron (HSM 3), Shia LaBeouf (Eagle Eye) and Robert Downey, Jr. (Tropic Thunder).
Best Fight nominees include Christian Bale and Heath Ledger (The Dark Knight) and Seth Rogen, James Franco and Danny McBride (Pineapple Express), while the Best Kiss category pits Twilight (Stewart and Pattinson) against Slumdog Millionaire (Pinto and Patel), Milk (James Franco and Sean Penn), and I Love You, Man (Paul Rudd and Thomas Lennon).
MTV will also introduce two new categories at this year's show - Best Song From a Movie and Best WTF Moment. Can't wait to see who takes home the golden popcorn for that last one!
Saturday Night Live comedian Andy Samberg will host the 18th annual MTV Movie Awards live at 9 p.m. ET on May 31. And starting today, you'll be able to vote for a winner in every category at the MTV Movies Awards site.
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LOS ANGELES, California (X17online) - The fresh-faced new "Star Trek" was energetically received by both fans and critics in its opening weekend at the box office.
The new voyage of the starship Enterprise brought in an estimated $76 million in its first four days of release.
The IMAX version set a record for the biggest weekend for a large screen film, selling $8.2 million worth of tickets.
Last weeks top ticket seller, "Wolverine" earned a very respectable $27 million, bringing it's take to more than $168 million in just two weeks.
"Ghosts of Girlfriends Past" was third with $10.4 million while "Obsessed" was fourth earning $6.6 million.
Zac Efron's "17 Again" continues to perform well, the heartthrob's film earned another $4.5 million, good enough for fifth place.
LOS ANGELES, California (X17online) - Tom Hanks' thriller "Angels & Demons" took the top spot at this weekend's box office. The follow-up to "The Da Vinci Code" earned an estimated $48 million in its opening weekend.
"Star Trek" remained strong in its second week of release, bringing in another $43 million for second place. The JJ Abrams directed film has now earned more than $148 million in two weeks of release.
Another strong box office veteran, "X-Men Origins: Wolverine" earned a respectable $14.8 milion - good enough for third place.
"Ghosts of Girlfriends Past" and "Obsessed" rounded out the top five, with $6.8 million and $4.5 million in ticket sales.
LOS ANGELES, California (X17online) - The vampire romance "Twilight" was the big winner at Sunday's MTV Movie Awards in Los Angeles.
The film picked up five "golden popcorn" awards at the rowdy ceremony hosted by "Saturday Night Live" comedian Andy Samberg.
"Twilight" was named best film and its stars Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart won for best male and female performance.
The on-screen couple also took home the award for best kiss. Robert Pattinson also won for breakthrough performance male and shared the best fight award with co-star Cam Gigandet.
Zac Efron won best performance male for his role in "High School Musical 3: Senior Year," while his co-star Ashlee Tisdale was given the award for breakthrough performance female.
Miley Cyrus, who lost to Tisdale for the breakthrough award, did take home a golden popcorn award for her song "The Climb."
The late Heath Ledger was also honored with the best villan award for his performance as The Joker in "The Dark Knight."
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LOS ANGELES, California (X17online) - Paramount's "Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen" has set a record for the best Wednesday premiere, earning an estimated $55 million.
That trounces the previous title holder, "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix" which brought in $42 million.
Now execs are watching to see if "Transformers" can top "Spider-Man 2's" $152 million dollar take for its first five days of release.
The action pic is also setting box office records in Australia, Korea, Japan and the UK.
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LOS ANGELES, California (X17online) - The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences have announced the nominees for the 82nd annual Academy Awards, and both Avatar and The Hurt Locker racked up a whopping 9 nominations, including Best Picture. Other contenders for that category include The Blind Side, District 9, An Education, Inglourious Basterds, Precious, A Serious Man, Up, and Up In The Air.
Jeff Bridges (Crazy Heart), George Clooney (Up In The Air), Colin Firth (A Single Man), Morgan Freeman (Invictus) and Jeremy Renner (The Hurt Locker) were nominated for the Best Actor category, and Sandra Bullock (The Blind Side), Helen Mirren (The Last Station), Carey Mulligan (An Education), Gabourey Sidibe (Precious) and Meryl Streep (Julia & Julia) earned nominations for Best Actress.
Matt Damon (Invictus), Woody Harrelson (The Messenger), Christopher Plummer (The Last Station), Stanley Tucci (The Lovely Bones) and Cristoph Walz (Inglourious Basterds) earned Best Supporting Actor nods, with Penelope Cruz (Nine), Vera Farmiga (Up In The Air), Maggie Gyllenhall (Crazy Heart), Anna Kendrick (Up In The Air) and Mo'Nique (Precious) topping off the Best Supporting Actress category.
The 82nd Annual Academy Awards will air on live on ABC on Sunday, March 7, 2010.
Click here to see the complete list of nominees
LOS ANGELES, California (X17online) - Disney has sold Miramax Films to Filmyard Holdings LLC for $660 million. The deal won't be finalized until later this year ... between Sept. 10th and the end of December.
The sale will also include the rights to over 700 film titles like Chicago and No Country for Old Men.
Disney CEO Robert Iger released the following statement:
LOS ANGELES, California (X17online) - Social network Facebook and Warner Bros. are teaming up to offer movies online.
For those who are fans of "The Dark Knight fan page," they'll be able to download the flick right off the page for 30 Facebook credits which is about $3. The Dark Knight movie is being used as a tester for this new system.
Users also will have the option to rent the movie from Warner Bros. for 48 hours, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
Thomas Gewecke, president of Warner Bros. Digitial Distribution, released the following statement:
Warner Bros. expects to release more of their titles in the next few months using this format.
Los Angeles, California (X17online) - Oscar-nominated filmmaker Tim Hetherington was killed Wednesday in Misrata, Libya. He was 41.
Hetherington was working as a photojournalist on a freelance assignment in Misrata, which has been one of the most dangerous areas in the ongoing Libyan rebellion.
The filmmaker was nominated for an Oscar this year for "Restrepo," a documentary for which he and co-director Sebastian Junger spent a year with a platoon that was battling the Taliban in Afghanistan.
Hetherington was also known for working on ABC's Nightline.
Getty photographer Chris Hondros died from a brain injury sustained in the same attack and several other journalists were injured, reports the New York Times.
Hetherington's family said in a statement, "It is with great sadness we learned that our son and brother photographer and filmmaker Tim Hetherington was killed today in Misrata, Libya by a rocket-propelled grenade."
The Hollywood Reporter has a quote from ABC News' James Goldston: "Tim was one of the bravest photographers and filmmakers I have ever met," Goldston said. "During his shooting for the Nightline specials he very seriously broke his leg on a night march out of a very isolated forward operating base that was under attack. He had the strength and character to walk for four hours through the night on his shattered ankle without complaint and under fire, enabling that whole team to reach safety."
 Courtesy: Universal |
The fifth film in the Fast and the Furious franchise was predicted to make $60-70 million, but its weekend gross hit $83.6 million. That's the biggest opening for any of the franchise's films.
But Disney's Prom didn't get asked to the box office. Even though it was released in prime prom season and heavily marketed, the flick actually came in at less than estimates. It was predicted to make $8-9 million, but instead made just $5 million.
LOS ANGELES, California (X17online) - Several movies in the works about Osama bin Laden will now have to undergo script changes, but director Kathryn Bigelow probably won't be complaining.
Bigelow was already scheduled to start directing a film about the very team that hunted the terrorist. Now, the ending seems to have written itself. Filming is scheduled to begin this summer.
Bigelow worked with same writer on The Hurt Locker, for which she won the Best Director Oscar.
LOS ANGELES, California (X17online) - Saoirse Ronan has scored the lead in The Host, the screen adaptation of the bestselling novel by Twilight Saga author Stephenie Meyer, Deadline reports.
Irish actress Ronan, who celebrated her 17th birthday in April, will play teenager Melanie in the film about aliens who take over humans' bodies.
Ronan was nominated for an Oscar for 2007's Atonemeny, but she's much more grown up now. She starred as an assassin in the well-reviewed action flick Hanna out earlier this month. No stranger to more serious roles, she also starred in The Lovely Bones.
Studios are certainly hoping that The Host will have success similar to the Twilight films.
Ronan is also rumored to be playing a part in both of The Hobbit movies, which are currently shooting.
LOS ANGELES, California (X17online) - Fast Five director Justin Lin says there will definitely be another film in the franchise.
"After this big weekend, we're going forward," director Justin Lin told USA Today.
The film opened to a banner weekend, making $86.2 million in the U.S. alone and vastly exceeding industry expectations.
LOS ANGELES, California (X17online) - The Marvel superhero, Thor, has become the most recent comic book adaptation to take control at the box office.
The God of Thunder managed to rake in $66 million this weekend in its release beating out Fast Five, which pulled in just under $33 million during its second weekend in theaters.
Thor had the second-biggest opening this year, while Fast Five set a brand-new record with $86 million.
LOS ANGELES, California (X17online) - Danish director Lars von Trier was given the boot from the Cannes Film Festival on Thursday after stating he sympathized with Adolf Hitler.
Von Trier made the comments at the press conference for Melancholia Wednesday, where the director spoke about his German heritage but went on to say he "understands" Hitler.
The movie stars Kirsten Dunst, who was so shocked by his words she even mouthed to the director during the presser, "Oh my God, this is terrible."
The director later claimed he was joking and that he was provoked by journalists; he has since apologized for the remarks.
On Thursday, the Cannes' Festival Board of Directors had a meeting and voted to ban the director from the festival.
The board of directors released a statement:
It has yet to be determined how long von Trier will be banned; it is the first time ever the Cannes Film Festival has banned a director.
LOS ANGELES, California (X17online) - Paramount has bumped up the release of Transformers: Dark of the Moon from July 1 to June 29.
Shia LaBeouf stars with returning castmates Tyrese Gibson and Josh Duhamel, welcoming franchise newbies Rosie Huntington-Whiteley and Patrick Dempsey.
According to insiders, the film's release date was moved from the Friday slot to a Wednesday opening to build excitement ahead of the weekend in hopes of boosting the all-important first-weekend box office numbers.
The third installment of Transformers was the first film in the series to be shot in 3-D, which Michael Bay claims was "fun" to work with, but "not easy."
A new trailer for Transformers: Dark of the Moon set to be released Friday.
LOS ANGELES, California (X17online) - Lenny Kravitz is the newest addition to The Hunger Games cast.
The musician will be portraying Cinna, the fashion stylist assigned to Katniss Everdeen (Jennifer Lawrence), who develops a close friendship with his client.
Liam Hemsworth and Josh Hutcherson are also starring in the film, which Lionsgate plans to release on March 23.
LOS ANGELES, California (X17online) - Disney's Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides is the fastest-moving motion this year hitting the $400 million mark at the box office in less than one week of its worldwide premiere.
The fourth installment of the franchise has grossed $310.8 million overseas, which is three times the $104.4 million the film has earned in North America, totaling $415.2 million thus far.
Universal's Fast Five is still the top-grossing film of 2011, with worldwide earnings of more than $500 million (on Tuesday, it's earnings were more than $520 million).
LOS ANGELES, California (X17online) - The Hangover, Part II, is expected to gross more than $30 million on it's first day, which is the highest earnings on a Thursday premiere of all time.
The tally includes $10.4 million from Hangover's midnight runs from 2,600 theatres, which is an all-time high and the widest opening for an R-rated film.
Box office experts think the Hangover sequel will rake in $110 million to $125 million this holiday weekend.
The film is set in Thailand with it's cast: Bradley Cooper, Ed Helms, Zach Galifianakis, Ken Jeong and Justin Bartha returning in their original roles.
Although the film hasn't received great reviews, it's not doubt the most anticipated film of 2011 thus far.
LOS ANGELES, California (X17online) - Jeff Conaway who is better known for his roles on Grease and Taxi, died Friday morning.
Conaway, 60, suffered from a pneumonia and sepsis in recent weeks and has been in a medically-induced coma in a Los Angeles hospital for two weeks, according to his manager Phil Brock.
Conaway was surrounded by his family in his hospital room Thursday afternoon when the actor was taken off life support.
The 60-year-old struggled with alcohol and drug addiction, which was documented the TV reality show Celebrity Rehab With Dr. Drew.
Dr. Drew Pinsky, who provided treatment to Conaway for substance abuse, tweeted Friday after learning of Conaway's death:
Reports stated Conaway suffered a drug overdose, but it was inaccurate. According to Dr. Drew, his use of drugs caused him not to realize how sick he was, keeping him from getting treatment for pneumonia until it was too late.
LOS ANGELES, California (X17online) - The list of most pirated films in the last week was full of summer blockbusters, pointing to how much money Hollywood is losing on illegal downloads and purchases of films.
The top lest also included films set to be released on DVD, such as Unknown, starring Liam Neeson.
The list:
1. X-Men: First Class
2. Unknown
3. Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides
4. Hall Pass
5. Just Go With It
6. The Hangover Part II
7. The Adjustment Bureau
8. Priest
9. Paul
10. I Am Number Four
LOS ANGELES, California (X17online) -- The producer of Snow White and the Huntsman, the new adaptation of Snow White starring Kristen Stewart, plans to make sequels to the film.
Producer Joe Roth tells EW that he plans on making the folktale/action movie into a trilogy.
“It’s meant to be the first in a series of films,†he said. “This story will end, but there will be questions remaining for these three characters.â€
The movie has gotten buzz for being in competition with another new, rival Snow White movie version starring Julia Roberts. Shooting is underway on that film, while Roth’s film — which also stars Thor‘s Chris Hemsworth and Charlize Theron — begins principal photography in August.
The films will open roughly two-and-a-half months apart next year. Roth’s movie debuts premieres second, on June 1.
LOS ANGELES, California (X17online) - Bridesmaids, the girl power movie that could, has become director/producer Judd Apatow's highest grossing film.
The movie overtook 2007's Knocked Up, not adjusted for inflation or higher ticket prices. Cume for Bridesmaids is more than $148.769M and counting.
The R-rated, female-centric comedy debuted at $26.2 million, surprising analysts, but proving that a comedy with a heavily female cast could appeal to both men and women.
Apatow is also behind Get Him to the Greek, Pineapple Express, Step Brothers, Forgetting Sarah Marshall, Superbad, Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby, The 40 Year Old Virgin and Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy.
LOS ANGELES, California (X17online) - Transformers: Dark of the Moon has become the third best worldwide debut of all time, grossing $372 million on opening weekend alone.
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince holds the record for best with $394 million, followed by Spider-Man 3 at $382 million.
With July 4th itself still to go, Michael Bay’s Dark of the Moon is predicted to finish Monday with $405.8 million, though Monday does not count towards the record.
Overseas, the film has earned the biggest opening of all time in seven countries -- Korea, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Philippines, Thailand, Singapore and Peru.
In other records, Imax theaters playing the movie set a record at $22.5 million earned worldwide. Domestically, the movie's Friday through Sunday gross of $97.4 million is the best three-day number ever for the July 4th weekend.
LOS ANGELES, California (X17online) - Bridesmaids has thus earned $152.9 million domestically, making it me the top R-rated female comedy of all time.
The previous holder of the title was the Sex and the City movie, which earned $152.6 million in the U.S.
Universal says Bridesmaids is now the studio’s biggest romantic comedy ever.
Bridesmaids stars Kristin Wiig -- who co-wrote the script with Annie Mumolo -- Maya Rudolph, Rose Byrne, Melissa McCarthy, Ellie Kemper and Wendi McLendon-Covey.
LOS ANGELES, California (X17online) - Bridesmaids star Kristen Wiig is officially signed on to Imogene, a dark comedy set to start shooting next month.
Wiig will star as the title character, as announced by Maven Pictures and Anonymous Content on Tuesday. The news comes on the heels of the SNL star's rave reviews for her leading role in Bridesmaids, though this upcoming dramatic comedy is darker than Wiig's usual fare.
“It’s basically about a girl who kind of pretends to kill herself,†the 37-year-old actress told IndieWire.com. “Starting off really funny, isn’t it? She does it to get her recently ex-boyfriend’s attention. She ends up having to go live with her mom, whom she hasn’t seen in years. It’s kind of about going back home, so she finds her life again and gets reintroduced to her family, kind of a coming home story.â€
Wiig had been in talks to star in the dark comedy since last summer. She will executive produce with Shari Springer Berman, Michelle Morgan and Steve Golan. Berman and her American Splendor co-director Robert Pulcini will direct.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Imogene will begin shooting August 8 in New York City.
LOS ANGELES, CA (X17online) - Sony has ushered in a new trend among film studios after claiming a May 2, 2014 release date for the yet-to-be-filmed Amazing Spider-Man sequel.
Lionsgate and Disney have now scheduled release dates as far as June 2014 for some of their major upcoming flicks. The upcoming movies include:
• May 3, 2013 – Iron Man 3 (Disney)
• July 26, 2013 – Thor 2 (Disney)
• October 4, 2013 – As-yet-untitled 3D film by Henry Selick (Disney)
• November 22, 2013 – Catching Fire, the second installment of the Hunger Games triology (Lionsgate)
• May 16, 2014 – An unspecified Marvel movie (Disney)
• May 30, 2014 – An unspecified Pixar movie (Disney)
• June 27, 2014 – An unspecified Marvel movie (Disney)
The majority of the movies that already have scheduled dates have not even been filmed yet.
LOS ANGELES, CA (X17online) - Lionsgate has charged Kenny Ortega with directing a remake of Dirty Dancing.
Ortega choreographed the original flick in 1987, and has since gained recognition for his direction of Disney’s High School Musical franchise and Sony’s Michael Jackson documentary This Is It.
The original Dirty Dancing was a major box office hit, grossing over $214 million worldwide and becoming the first film to sell more than one million copies on home video.
LOS ANGELES, CA (X17online) - Paramount Pictures’ much-anticipated zombie flick World War Z is scheduled to hit theaters on December 21, 2012 – the date that many believe will mark the end of the world.
The Marc Forster-directed film is adapted from Max Barry’s zombie war novel of the same name.
Brad Pitt will both star in and produce World War Z with his Plan B production company.
WASHINGTON, D.C. (X17online) -- The chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee wants to investigate the Obama administration's cooperation with director Kathryn Bigelow's Osama Bin Laden film.
Bigelow, who won the Best Director Oscar for The Hurt Locker, is making the film about the hunt for Bin Laden and his killing.
Rep. Peter King, R-N.Y., asked the inspectors general of the CIA and Defense Department to examine what information the adminstration had provided about the covert military operations.
Press secretary Jay Carney told reporters:
LOS ANGELES, CA (X17online) - Bridget Jones will share her diary for a third time.
Working Title Films, the British production company behind the first two Bridget Jones films, confirmed to EW that a third installment of Bridget Jones is in the works.
The Bridget Jones series is based on novels by Helen Fielding, who revealed to the London Evening Standard in March that she had begun writing a third installment.
Though no other details about the Bridget Jones flick have been released, cast member Colin Firth divulged a number of details about the storyline to Access Hollywood last year.
“I can tell you that Bridget and Mark can’t have children, I think that’s the way it goes on,†Firth hinted. “So then she makes the huge mistake of going back to Daniel Cleaver [played by Hugh Grant] for long enough to get pregnant. And I think he dumps her, and she’s left stranded, and guess who comes back to rescue her?â€
The first two Bridget Jones films were both international sensations; the first, released in 2001, grossed a reported $281 million, and the second, released in 2004, grossed $262 million.
NEW YORK, New York (X17online) -- The Amazing Spider-Man star Andrew Garfield will make his Broadway debut alongside Philip Seymour Hoffman.
First, he's revived the Spiderman franchise, now he'll star in the Broadway revival of classic play Death of a Salesman. Garfield, 28, will play Biff Loman, with Hoffman playing Willy.
Mike Nichols will direct -- the show premieres in March of 2012.
LOS ANGELES, California (X17online) -- Mike Myers is planning to revive his Austin Powers franchise, according to multiple reports.
Myers' character, first seen on Saturday Night Live, spawned three hit movies from 1997 to 2002.
Myers would write, produce and star in the new film. The trilogy grossed $676,356,278 worldwide.
The actor last appeared live onscreen in the 2008 flop The Love Guru, though he voiced Shrek in the hit franchise.
TORONTO, Ontario (X17online) - Nicole Kidman, Robert De Niro, Clive Owen, and Jennifer Hudson will premiere their works at the 2011 Toronto International Film Festival, festival organizers announced Tuesday.
The extensive list of world premieres at TIFF now includes Joel Schumacher’s Trespass, which stars Nicole Kidman and Nicolas Cage as a married couple that is held for ransom.
Gary McKendry’s Killer Elite, based on Sir Ranulph Fiennes' novel, features Robert De Niro, Clive Owen, and Jason Statham in an action-packed assassin storyline.
Darrell J. Roodt’s much-anticipated Winnie stars Jennifer Hudson as Winnie Mandela, the wife of Nelson Mandela.
An additional 15 special presentations and 8 galas have joined the TIFF lineup, as well.
The 2011 Toronto Film Festival will run from September 8-18.
LOS ANGELES, California (X17online) -- Pixar announced two new movies at the D23 Expo this weekend.
The first film will explore what would have happened if the asteroid that some scientists believe hit Earth, wiping out dinosaurs, had instead missed, allowing the species to movie forward. It hits theaters Nov. 27, 2013.
The official logline:
Another flick, from the Oscar-winning director of Monsters, Inc. and Up, will explore the inside of the human mind and be released in May 2013. The logline:
LOS ANGELES, California (X17online) - Paramount’s Transformers: Dark of the Moon, the third and latest installment of the Transformers film series, will be re-released in IMAX theaters.
Audiences will get a chance to see the Transformers: Dark of the Moon in 3D during a two-week run, from Aug. 26 through Sept. 8. According to The Hollywood Reporter, 246 IMAX theaters throughout North America will screen the flick.
Transformers: Dark of the Moon has been a bona fide box office success, grossing $1.1 billion through Sunday.
LOS ANGELES, California (X17online) - Jonah Hill is in talks with Fox to join the cast of Ben Stiller’s Neighborhood Watch, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
The Akiva Schaffer-directed sci-fi comedy, which already has Vince Vaughn and Rosemarie DeWitt on board, follows a group of bored suburban dads who form a “neighborhood watch†group, only to uncover an elaborate alien-invasion plot.
Hill will star as Vaughn’s sidekick, who tends to exaggerate his dark and deviant past.
Neighborhood Watch is scheduled to begin filming this fall in Georgia.
LOS ANGELES, California (X17online) - Victoria’s Secret and Sports Illustrated model Marissa Miller has joined the cast of Universal’s R.I.P.D., starring Ryan Reynolds and Jeff Bridges.
Based on the comic by Peter M. Lenkov., R.I.P.D. stars Reynolds as a murdered cop who is recruited to work in a police division made up of ghosts, known as the Rest In Peace Department. Bridges will play Reynolds’ police partner and Miller will be his human avatar.
Though this will be Miller’s debut film performance, she has made multiple television appearances on Entourage, Gary Unmarried, and How I Met Your Mother.
Miller, a former Victoria’s Secret Angel and 2008 SI Swimsuit cover girl, is following in the footsteps of Rosie Huntington-Whiteley and Brooklyn Decker, who both made model-to-actress transitions this year in major Hollywood flicks - Transformers: Dark of the Moon and Just Go With It, respectively.
R.I.P.D. is scheduled to hit screens June 28, 2013.
LOS ANGELES, California (X17online) - Anne Hathaway has signed on to the film adaptation of Les Miserables, according to Broadway World.
Hathaway will join Les Miserables cast member Hugh Jackman, who was reportedly pushing for the Academy Award-nominated actress. Hathaway is set to play the lead role of Fantine and Jackman will play Jean Valjean.
Though no official casting announcements have been made, Broadway World reports that Les Miserables filmmakers have also approached Russell Crowe, Helena Bonham Carter, Hayden Panettiere, Miranda Cosgrove, Emma Watson and Amy Adams about participating in the film.
Les Miserables is currently in development under Universal Pictures and will be directed by Tom Hooper.
LOS ANGELES, California (X17online) -- Warner Bros. is being sued by a stuntman who worked on the Thailand set of The Hangover: Part II.
Scott McLean says he was acting as a stunt double for Ed Helms during a sequence filmed in December in which cars were traveling at high speeds. He was a passenger when and leaning out of the window when the car driving towards McLean's car hit it.
McLean says he was left with brain injuries. According to the complaint, filed in California federal court on Tuesday, the film's stunt coordinator, co-defendant Russell Solberg, changed the timing on the stunt sequence:
McLean was reportedly airlifted from Thailand to Australia, where he has been in a hospital or rehab facility since. His reps report "likely permanent brain and physical injuries," including seizures, speech impediments, physical impediments and brain trauma.
Included as a plaintiff in this action is McLean's domestic partner, Raelene Chapman, who according to the complaint, has been at his side and unable to work.
They're suing Warner Bros. for negligence and unspecified damages. Said Warner Bros in a statement:
LOS ANGELES, California (X17online) - Academy Award-winning actor Warren Beatty is set to receive the Stanley Kubrick Britannia Award for Excellence in Film, the British Academy of Film and Television Arts Los Angeles announced Wednesday.
“Warren Beatty is an undisputed film icon who, during nearly a half-century, has created a body of work that transcends trends and remains timeless,†BAFTA Los Angeles chairman Nigel Lythgoe said in a statement. “He is a powerful and original creative force, both in front and behind the camera, and it is our distinct pleasure to honor and celebrate his immense talents.â€
Additional 2011 BAFTA Los Angeles Britannia Awards recipients include Ben Stiller, Helena Bonham Carter, David Yates, and John Lasseter.
The Britannia Awards will take place Nov. 30 at the Beverly Hilton Hotel and will be broadcast on the TV Guide Network on Dec. 4.
LOS ANGELES, California (X17online) - A woman who filed a lawsuit against NBC Universal for injuries sustained during the filming of Bruno has not only lost her legal battle – she must also pay the studio for filing a nuisance lawsuit.
Richelle Olsen alleged that an altercation at a bingo parlor during the filming of Bruno in May 2007 resulted in injuries that included two “brain bleeds.†NBC Universal counterclaimed that no altercation took place and submitted 28 minutes of unedited footage to prove it.
The court sided with NBC Universal, dismissing the lawsuit and ordering Olsen to pay for the studio’s legal fees.
LOS ANGELES, California (X17online) - Netflix is separating its DVD and streaming services, the company announced Sunday.
Netflix will launch a new company called Qwikster for its DVD-by-mail services, while streaming services will remain on Netflix.com.
The news has upset many Netflix customers, many of whom were already displeased with the company’s recent announcement that prices for its subscription service would increase by 60 percent.
Despite Netflix CEO Reed Hastings’s lengthy apology to disgruntled customers on the company’s blog, Netflix’s stock dropped over 7 percent Monday.
LOS ANGELES, California (X17online) - Scarface is coming back.
Universal Studios is in the early stages of developing a new Scarface movie, with Marc Shmuger and Martin Bregman – producer of 1983’s Scarface – on board as producers.
The film is being described as neither a sequel nor remake, but rather a reboot of the 1983 and 1932 Scarface films, which detailed the “gangster†experience of their respective time periods.
1983’s Scarface was nominated for three Golden Globes and has sold 10 million DVD copies since its release.
LOS ANGELES, California (X17online) - Disney has resumed development of Johnny Depp’s Lone Ranger, according to Deadline.
The movie studio had halted development of the flick in August over budget concerns, but has since cut enough costs to put it back on track.
Disney shrunk the Lone Ranger budget from $250 million to $215 million by trimming production costs and reworking its deals with producer Jerry Bruckheimer, director Gore Verbinski, and the film’s main star, Johnny Depp.
Production will likely begin in early 2012, though Disney has yet to indicate whether or not its budgeting woes will affect Lone Ranger’s Dec. 21, 2012 release date.
Russell Brand and Julianne Hough are set to co-star in Diablo Cody's directorial debut.
The movie, currently untitled but previous called Lamb of God, will star Hough as a young religious woman who loses her faith after a plane crash, according to The Hollywood Reporter. She moves to Las Vegas to live life as a sinner, with Brand set to play the companion who helps her find her way back.
Production on the Mandate Pictures film will begin in the spring. It will be produced by Mason Novick and executive produced by Cody and Nathan Kahane. Cody's best-known work is Juno, which she also worked on with Novick for Mandate.
LOS ANGELES, California (X17online) - Pop star-turned-actor Justin Timberlake has been cast as Casablanca Records co-founder Neil Bogart in an upcoming biopic.
The film, titled Spinning Gold, will follow Bogart’s rise to success as a record executive who put artists like KISS, Donna Summer, and the Village People on the map.
“This is saga about a young dreamer who started with nothing and came of age in the ’60s and ’70s, believing anything was possible and every risk was worth taking,†Bogart’s son and the film’s screenwriter, Tim Bogart, told Deadline.
Timberlake will also produce the flick, which comes from Boardwalk Films.
LOS ANGELES, California (X17online) - Details about the much-anticipated Zoolander sequel are beginning to emerge.
At a press junket for his new film The Big Year, Owen Wilson revealed that his character Hansel would experience a significant blow to his modeling career.
"Hansel, he's fallen on hard times," he hinted. "There's been a disfiguring injury."
Wilson’s Zoolander costar Ben Stiller divulged earlier this year that Zoolander and Hansel would also struggle to get back into the modeling game after their 10-year hiatus.
“Ten years is a thousand years. They're both totally out of it and have to start from scratch," Stiller said.
Zoolander 2 will be directed by Justin Theroux and is expected to hit theaters in 2014.
LOS ANGELES, California (X17online) - A stage on the Toronto set of Resident Evil 5 has collapsed, injuring 16 crew members and actors.
A total of 10 people were sent to the hospital, including actors dressed as zombies; medics reportedly faced the challenge of distinguishing between actors’ real and fake blood.
A statement from the Resident Evil 5 production team has not yet been released.
LOS ANGELES, California (X17online) - HBO Films has picked up a Liberace biopic starring Michael Douglas and Matt Damon.
The Steven Soderbergh-directed flick will chronicle the love affair between Liberace, played by Douglas, and boyfriend Scott Thorson, played by Damon.
"This is a story that's going to surprise a lot of people," HBO Films president Len Amato shared at a Tuesday press conference. "With Steven at the helm, directing such accomplished actors as Michael Douglas and Matt Damon, this is a dream project for us."
LOS ANGELES, California (X17online) - A man has filed a federal lawsuit against the makers of The Hangover, Part II, claiming that the storyline was stolen from his own script about Asian misadventures.
Michael Alan Rubin detailed his Thai honeymoon gone wrong in a script entitled 'Mickey and Kirin', which he says is suspiciously similar to that of The Hangover, Part II.
"The production of Hangover 2 is not a complete 'literary' or 'artistic' works of the Hangover Defendants as credited in Hangover 2," according to the complaint. "In fact, the production of Hangover 2 was a result of infringement of the Plaintiff's treatment 'Mickey and Kirin' and exploitation of the private real life of Plaintiff in an insulting manner."
Rubin is suing for copyright infringement, misappropriation of his publicity rights, and defamation.
LOS ANGELES, California (X17online) - Matt Damon and Ben Affleck will reunite in an upcoming film.
The two actors will direct, co-star, and produce a mob flick set in their native city of Boston. It will follow the non-fictional story of Whitey Bulger, played by Damon, who was both a hugely prominent criminal and an informant to the FBI.
"Matt and I have been looking for something to do together for some time," Affleck told Deadline. "We've heard about Whitey Bulger since we were kids, and we are excited by the prospect of putting it on screen."
LOS ANGELES, California (X17online) - Bad news continues to stream in for Netflix.
The company’s stock was down 35.9 percent at $76.15 as of this morning, a number it hadn’t been traded at since April 2010.
Netflix’s stock and membership have steadily declined – by 810,000, to be exact - since the company announced a price hike for its services in July.
LOS ANGELES, California (X17online) - Grace Kelly will be the subject of a new film.
Entitled Grace of Monaco, the flick will detail the late actress-turned-princess’ life over a six-month period, during which Monaco faced the threat of a coup from its French neighbors.
Pierre-Ange Le Pogam will both produce and finance the film.
LOS ANGELES, California (X17online) - Sean Penn will direct Robert De Niro and Kristen Wiig in an upcoming flick entitled The Comedian.
De Niro will star as a comedian who has fallen from grace and seeks an extravagant comeback. Kristen Wiig will play his love interest, who he meets at court-mandated community service after hitting a member of his audience with a microphone.
Penn is scheduled to begin filming for The Comedian in the spring of 2012.
LOS ANGELES, California (X17online) - The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey will premiere in director Peter Jackson’s hometown of Wellington, New Zealand.
Warner Bros. made the decision following Kiwis’ overwhelmingly positive response to The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King premiere in NZ in 2003.
"No one I don't think in the international industry could quite believe how the country got behind that moment," Jackson told NZ reporters, "and I think everyone involved is quite honestly keen to let New Zealand have the premiere of the first Hobbit movie."
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey is currently filming and is scheduled for a Dec. 13, 2012 release.
LOS ANGELES, California (X17online) - The Rum Diary starring Johnny Depp disappointed at this weekend’s box office.
The film, a tribute from Depp to the late journalist Hunter S. Thompson, ranked fifth at the box office and grossed an underwhelming $5 million in its opening weekend.
The numbers are unbecoming of Depp, who has starred in three of the ten highest-grossing films of all time, including 2006’s Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest ($1.07 billion), 2011’s Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides ($1.04 billion), and 2010’s Alice in Wonderland ($1.02 billion).
LOS ANGELES, California (X17online) - Jessica Chastain has been tapped to play Princess Diana in an upcoming flick.
The actress will portray Diana in Caught In Flight, which will chronicle the love story between Diana and Dr. Hasnat Khan, a Pakistani heart surgeon whom she dated in the two years prior to her death.
Caught In Flight will be directed by Oliver Hirschbiegel and is scheduled to go into pre-production in March 2012.
LOS ANGELES, California (X17online) - A Prop 8 movie is in the works.
Rob Reiner is currently developing a film based on the legal battles surrounding California’s Proposition 8, the ballot proposition approved by voters but declared unconstitutional by a federal district court judge that sought to ban same-sex marriage.
Reiner is personally invested in the legal battles against Prop 8, as he helped to create the American Foundation for Equal Rights in 2009.
LOS ANGELES, California (X17online) - Aaron Sorkin won the Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay for The Social Network earlier this year, and now the scribe is in talks to pen a biopic about late Apple cofounder Steve Jobs.
"Sony has asked me to write the movie and it's something I'm strongly considering," Sorkin told E! News. "Right now I'm just in the thinking-about-it stages. It's a really big movie and it's going to be a great movie no matter who writes it." Sorkin added, "He was a great entrepreneur, he was a great artist, a great thinker."
Jobs passed away in October of pancreatic cancer at the age of 56, and shortly after that, it was reported that Sony had acquired the rights to Walter Isaacson's authorized biography of Jobs.
LOS ANGELES, California (X17online) - Twilight: Breaking Dawn Part 1 has grossed over $500 million in the 12 days since its debut.
The fourth installment of the wildly successful film franchise has earned $223.4 million domestically and $285 internationally.
"We couldn't be more pleased with the success of this film and a franchise that the fans have continued to support over the past several years. Thank you to all involved with the films from the actors, filmmakers and Stephenie Meyer to the most important group of all, the global fan base that continues to drive a desire for more Edward, Jacob and Bella," Summit Entertainment co-chairmen Rob Friedman and Patrick Wachsberger said in a statement.
Part 2 of Breaking Dawn - the final installment of the film franchise - is scheduled to hit screens in November 2012.
LOS ANGELES, California (X17online) - Julia Roberts has signed on to produce and star in a new comedy.
The film, entitled Second Act, follows a woman who has never held a job and is forced to enter the workforce.
Roberts' production company Red Om and New Regency are behind the project, and the actress will co-produce alongside her former manager Elaine Goldsmith-Thomas, Sting's wife Trudie Styler, and Celine Rattray.
LOS ANGELES, California (X17online) - Good and bad news to report on New Year’s Eve’s weekend box office performance: the star-studded flick took the top spot in the slowest box office weekend since 2008.
Despite Warner Bros. and New Line’s forecast that New Year’s Eve would earn $20 million or more in its opening weekend, the film raked in an underwhelming $13.7 million.
"The box office was just in really bad shape," said Dan Fellman, Warner Bros.’ president of domestic distribution. "While we had the No. 1 movie, we were No. 1 in a very soft market."
The Sitter starring Jonah Hill came in at second with $10 million, and The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 1 managed to rank third in its fourth weekend with $7.9 million.
LOS ANGELES, California (X17online) - Girl With the Dragon Tattoo has topped MTV Movies and NextMovie’s top-10 movie list of 2011.
“We all fell in love with this movie from the moment we saw it,†MTV News' Josh Horowitz shared with The Hollywood Reporter. “We all love the work of David Fincher, we all were blown away by Rooney Mara, in this amazing performance of this iconic character, and thrilled by the kind of world that David Fincher created.â€
A panel of five judges from MTV News and NextMovie compiled the list, found below:
The judges will hold a live debate about their picks on Friday, Dec. 16 at 4:30 p.m. ET on MTV, with a special appearance by Girl With the Dragon Tattoo star Rooney Mara.
LONDON, UK (X17online) - Daniel Craig is reportedly in talks to star as James Bond in five more installments of the franchise.
James Bond producer Michael G. Wilson revealed to UK newspaper The People that he planned to discuss the prospect with Craig, 43, sometime in the near future. If he accepts, it would make him the longest-serving Bond of all time.
“Filming has gone very well and I'd love Daniel to surpass Roger's [Moore] record and do eight pictures," Wilson shared with the newspaper.
Craig is currently filming the 23rd Bond installment, titled Skyfall.
LOS ANGELES, California (X17online) - Twilight screenwriter Melissa Rosenberg has become the highest-grossing female screenwriter of all time.
Following the extraordinary success of The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 1, which has generated $647.3 million in revenues thus far, Rosenberg has officially surpassed Linda Woolverton (Alice in Wonderland, The Lion King) as Hollywood’s highest-grossing female screenwriter. In total, her films have earned a worldwide revenue of $2.56 billion.
Rosenberg is currently writing a film adaptation of young adult novel Earthseed for Paramount.
LOS ANGELES, California (X17online) - A number of individuals involved in the 2005 film Crash, including director Paul Haggis and co-star Brendan Fraser, have won a $12 million lawsuit against the film’s producer Bob Yari.
L.A. Superior Court Judge Daniel J. Buckley charged Yari with diverting profits from the film and its participants by “diverting funds to third parties; adopting bogus contractual interpretations; refusing to correct accounting errors in a timely manner; adopting inappropriate accounting procedures that were contrary to industry standards; and, ultimately, using all of these to avoid paying plaintiffs money due under contracts."
This isn’t Yari’s first legal woe regarding the Oscar-winning film: he was sued in 2006 and 2010 for withholding funds from two producers and actor Matt Dillon, respectively, and in 2010 his production company Bob Yari Prods. filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.
LONDON, UK (X17online) - The London premiere of War Horse will benefit the Foundation of Prince William and Prince Harry.
The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge will attend the premiere of the Steven Spielberg-directed flick, and 600 military personnel, past and present, have been invited.
War Horse follows the friendship of a war horse and his trainer during World War I.
The premiere will be held at the Odeon Leicester Square in London on Sunday, January 8, 2012.
NEW YORK, New York (X17online) - The makers of The Hangover Part II are facing yet another lawsuit.
This time, it’s luxury fashion make Louis Vuitton that has beef with the 2011 comedy. In a lawsuit filed in a New York federal court on Thursday, the company points to a scene during which Zach Galifianakis’ character, Alan, uses Louis Vuitton knock-off luggage and warns another character, “Careful, that is…that is a Louis Vuitton.â€
Louis Vuitton charges Warner Bros. with refusing to modify the scene before the film’s DVD release and seeks damages for consumer confusion over the authenticity of their products.
A number of lawsuits against the makers of The Hangover Part II remain pending: in October, a man filed a lawsuit in which he claimed that the film's storyline was stolen from his own screenplay, and in August, a stuntman sued for brain injuries sustained during filming.
LOS ANGELES, California (X17online) - Alan Taylor will direct Thor 2.
The Game of Thrones director will replace original Thor director Patty Jenkins, who was initially on board to direct the sequel but pulled out in early December.
Chris Hemsworth will reprise his leading role as Marvel Comics superhero Thor.
Thor 2 is scheduled for a November 13, 2013 release.
LOS ANGELES, California (X17online) - Fast Five was the most pirated film of 2011.
In TorrentFreak’s list of the year’s most-pirated movies - based on the number of illegal downloads on BitTorrent – Fast Five led the pack with 9.3 million illegal downloads.
The action flick was trailed by The Hangover Part II (8.8 million illegal downloads) and Thor (8.3 million illegal downloads).
In more positive news for filmmakers: the average number of illegal film downloads on BitTorrent decreased significantly since 2010.
LOS ANGELES, California (X17online) - Tom Cruise has much to celebrate this holiday season.
The box office numbers for Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol confirm that Cruise is back. His latest flick is currently grossing $256.2 million at the worldwide box office and is expected to earn up to $600 million – beating out all three Mission Impossible installments before it.
Mission Impossible also topped the holiday box office, trailed by Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows, which is inching toward the $100 million mark worldwide.
LOS ANGELES, California (X17online) - Director Martin Scorsese will be awarded a BAFTA fellowship, the British Academy’s highest honor.
The fellowship recognizes individuals who have made extraordinary contributions to film.
Past recipients of the BAFTA fellowship include Charlie Chaplin, Sean Connery, Judi Dench, Alfred Hitchcock, Anthony Hopkins, Stanley Kubrick, Laurence Olivier, Vanessa Redgrave, Steven Spielberg, and Elizabeth Taylor.
Scorsese will also receive the Music+Film Award at the Critics’ Choice Movie Awards later this month.
BAFTA’s awards ceremony will take place on Feb. 12.
LOS ANGELES, California (X17online) - Universal is reportedly considering a Bridesmaids sequel – with or without leading actress Kristen Wiig.
Wiig, who co-wrote Bridesmaids, told The Hollywood Reporter that she has no plans to participate in its sequel.
But it's no surprise that Universal is looking to reboot the comedy; with a budget of $32 million, Bridesmaids grossed $288 million worldwide and propelled the film careers of Wiig and co-star Melissa McCarthy.
Wiig already has three film projects underway: Friends With Kids, costarring Jon Hamm; Imogene, costarring Annette Bening; and The Comedian, directed by Sean Penn and costarring Robert De Niro.
LOS ANGELES, California (X17online ) - Paramount has acquired distribution rights to a 3D Cirque du Soleil flick from James Cameron.
Cirque du Soleil Worlds Away has already been filmed and showcases performances by various Cirque du Soleil productions.
The film was executive produced by Cameron, the man behind mega-hits Titanic and Avatar, and written and directed by Andrew Adamson, who also directed the Shrek franchise.
LOS ANGELES, California (X17online) - Jeff Probst is exploring the world of filmmaking.
The Survivor host has been tapped to direct Kiss Me, a feature film that follows a girl as she experiences “the physical and emotional growing pains of her teen years.â€
John Corbett (Sex and the City) and Sarah Bolger (In America) have already signed on to the production, which begins filming next month in Los Angeles.
Kiss Me is Probst’s second directorial project, after the 2001 film Finder’s Fee starring Ryan Reynolds and James Earl Jones.
LOS ANGELES, California (X17online) - Universal has dropped its Stretch Armstrong flick, which was set to star Taylor Lautner.
Relativity Media will now develop and produce the film, based on the Hasbro action figure, though it will no longer feature Lautner or formerly attached director Rob Letterman.
Though Lautner’s team claims to have willingly dropped out of the film, some reports suggest that the poor box office performance of his most recent film Abduction was to blame for Universal’s move.
Relativity’s Stretch Armstrong flick is currently scheduled for an April 2014 release.
LOS ANGELES, California (X17online) - The full X-Men: First Class cast has signed on for a sequel.
Director Matthew Vaughn and cast members Michael Fassbender and Jennifer Lawrence will return for the next X-Men installment, with Bryan Singer (X-Men and X2) on board as producer.
X-Men: First Class was the least successful installment of the popular franchise, though it still managed to rake in more than $353 million worldwide.
LOS ANGELES, California (X17online) - Paramount is in talks with pop star Katy Perry to develop a 3D concert film, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
The studio is reportedly eying a documentary-style 3D film that would follow Perry’s on-stage and backstage antics, in the vein of the 2011 concert film Justin Bieber: Never Say Never.
Perry will hit the small screen on Feb. 12 as a performer at the 54th Grammy Awards.
LOS ANGELES, California (X17online) - Lionsgate has announced a weeklong IMAX release of The Hunger Games.
“With this news, the release of The Hunger Games has truly become an epic event,” Lionsgate Co-Chief Operating Officer Joe Drake said in a statement. “The Hunger Games and IMAX are a match made in heaven – fans love this book because its world is so vividly imagined and seeing the film in IMAX will make them feel as if they have landed right in the middle of the action.”
Based on the bestselling book series by Suzanne Collins, The Hunger Games stars Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson and Liam Hemsworth and is scheduled for a March 23, 2012 release.
LOS ANGELES, California (X17online) - CAA has signed its first Bollywood star, Priyanka Chopra.
The Bollywood actress and former Miss World has had a prolific film career – she is best known for her performances in Fashion (2008), Kaminey (2009), What's Your Raashee? (2009) and 7 Khoon Maaf (2011) - and recently launched her music career with a Universal Music Group record deal.
Chopra joins fellow CAA clients Jennifer Aniston, Tom Cruise, George Clooney, Robert Downey, Jr., Natalie Portman, and Reese Witherspoon.
LOS ANGELES, California (X17online) - Nominations for the second annual The Comedy Awards were announced Tuesday, with Modern Family , Bridesmaids, 30 Rock, Crazy, Stupid, Love and stand-up comic Louis C.K snagging the most award noms.
The awards, which celebrate the best and brightest in comedy, will be held in NYC at the Hammerstein Ballroom on April 28. It will make premiere on Comedy Central May 6.
Modern Family, which took home the award for best comedy series last year, is nominated again along with 30 Rock, Curb Your Enthusiasm, Parks and Recreations, and Happy Endings.
Comedy films that nabbed nominations are Bridesmaids, Crazy, Stupid, Love, Midnight in Paris, Horrible Bosses, and The Artist.
Nominated for their film acting are: Jason Bateman, Steve Carell, Jean Dujardin, Zach Galifianakis, Kristen Wiig, Owen Wilson, Jennifer Aniston, Cameron Diaz, Emma Stone, and Melissa McCarthy.
In terms of TV acting, Zooey Deschanel, Tina Fey, Amy Poehler, Kristen Wiig, Sophia Vergara, Alec Baldwin, Ty Burrell, Louis C.K, Steve Carell, and Larry David are all up for the award.
Winners will be chosen by the Comedy Awards Voting Body, which is comprised of comedic professionals in the industry. In addition, fans can vote for their favorite Breakout Performer of the Year. Nominees for that category include: Zooey Deschanel, Josh Gad, Donald Glover, Melissa McCarthy, and Jason Sudeikis.
The comedy committee has decided to bring back the Johnny Carson Award and the Comedy Icon Award.
LOS ANGELES, California (X17online) - Ron Howard and Brian Grazer are teaming up once again to bring their take on George Orwell's novel, 1984, to the big screen.
The Oscar-winning producers, in conjunction with LBI Entertainment, have sought the rights from Orwell's estate and have begun seeking writers to help tackle the 20th-century classic.
Shepard Fairey, the artist known for his iconic Barack Obama "Hope" poster, played an integral part in helping bring the classic novel to the famed producing duo.
The book, set in a dystopian society, focuses on Winston Smith and his desire to rebel against a secret government branch that aids in propaganda and historical revisions.
LOS ANGELES, California (X17online) - The Hunger Games is expected to have a huge opening weekend and the film has already hit Fandango's all-time top 5 advance sellers list.
On Wednesday, the highly anticipated Lionsgate film already reached the $15 million mark in advanced ticket sales, arriving at number 4 on Fandango's list while overtaking The Twilight Saga: Eclipse and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1, respectively.
It's believed that The Hunger Games can take the number 3 spot in advanced ticket sales by Thursday morning, leaping ahead of The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 1.
This news comes on the heels of the NY Daily News reporting that the movie almost became a television series, a chief reason for why it took almost four years to make it to theaters.
LOS ANGELES, California (X17online) - Filmmaker Todd Phillips announced that the third installment of the Hangover franchise will be the last.
"We're going to surprise a lot of people with the final chapter we have planned. It will be a fitting conclusion to our three-part opera of mayhem, despair and bad decisions," Phillips said in a statement Thursday.
After extensive negotiations, Bradley Cooper, Zack Galafianakis and Ed Helms are all set to reprise their roles in the blockbuster hit. It was reported that the three stars were asking for $15 million pay days and they were likely to receive that amount.
Although Warner Bros. could have kept the comedy series going, the cost of keeping the original actors around would have been too significant. The series has been hugely lucrative for the studio, with the first installment raking in $467.5 million worldwide and the sequel banking $581.5 million.
Although the plot of the final movie is not yet known, rumors are swirling it is set in Los Angeles and it doesn't follow the same format as the first two films. The script is being written by Phillips and Craig Mazin.
LOS ANGELES, California (X17online) - After receiving flack for their initial R rating for the film Bully, the Weinstein Co. has decided to release the Lee Hirsch-helmed documentary unrated.
The Motion Picture Association of America gave the film an R rating due to its language and has dismissed the Weinstein Company's appeal. The move now leaves the decision to show the film up to individual theaters.
"The small amount of language in the film that's responsible for the R rating is there because it's real," Hirsch said. "It's what the children who are victims of bullying face on most days. All of our supporters see that, and we're grateful for the support we've received across the board. I know the kids will come, so it's up to the theaters to let them in."
Bully will open on March 30 in select theaters in New York and Los Angeles.
LOS ANGELES, California (X17online) - After weeks of meeting and reading with many of Hollywood's most promising young actresses, MGM, Screen Gems and director Kim Pierce have picked Chloe Moretz to star in the new Carrie reboot.
The Kick-Ass star later confirmed the news via Twitter with much excitement. "Never been so happy in my life! Thank you Kim Pierce and thank u MGM for the chance of a lifetime i will never forget!" Moretz tweeted earlier today.
The Hugo actress will play the title role, following Sissy Spacek's Oscar-nominated performance as the shy high school student who uses her telepathic powers for evil after being bullied by fellow classmates.
Moretz reportedly beat out fellow young starlets like Dakota Fanning for the coveted role.
LOS ANGELES, California (X17online) - A sequel to the hit movie Twins is in the works, and is set to star original actors Arnold Schwarzenegger and Danny DeVito along with newcomer Eddie Murphy.
The movie, based on brothers who were conceived experimentally, will add Murphy's character as the long lost third sibling.
Tenatively titled Triplets, the follow-up to the 1988 comedy doesn't have a director attached yet, but Universal and Montecito Co. are already on the hunt for writers to develop the script.
Original director Ivan Reitman will produce along with partners Joe Medjuk, Tom Pollock and Ali Bell.
Universal is also working on a sequel to Midnight Run starring Robert De Niro.
LOS ANGELES, California (X17online) - Angry Birds is looking to make a move from your touchscreen phone to a television and theater near you.
Rovio, creators behind the mobile game, will launch a series of 52 animated shorts available on all devices starting this fall, according to Nick Dorra, head of animation.
In addition to the shorts, they are also working on a full-length film based on the popular app, but it won't be available any time soon.
“It’s in development, but it won’t be out in 2013 or 2014,” Dorra said.
LOS ANGELES, California (X17online) - Titanic, the world's 2nd highest-grossing movie of all time, was released in 3D today and is expected to draw $20-$30 million in box office sales by Easter Sunday.
The film was released on 300 screens around the country and will be featured in 79 IMAX theaters. The 3D conversion was overseen by director James Cameron and his producing partner Jon Landau and cost approximately $18 million to transform.
The original release of the epic tale took in a theatrical gross of $1.8 billion.
LOS ANGELES, California (X17online) - The 3D release of James Cameron's Titanic opened yesterday with numbers that are to said to rival The Hunger Games.
The 1997 blockbuster is projected to take in around $5 million to $6 million, figures that can nearly edge out the biggest movie of 2012.
While Paramount predicts that Titanic will take in $20 million to $25 million during the Wednesday to Friday stretch, other box-office observers are projecting the film to rake in anywhere from $27 million to $30 million in that period.
The original Titanic took in $1.8 billion worldwide, making it the top grossing film until Avatar hit theaters.
LOS ANGELES, California (X17online) - Taylor Lautner is currently in negotiations to join Adam Sandler and the gang in Grown Ups 2.
The Twilight star is set to star alongside Sandler, Kevin James, Chris Rock, David Spade, Maya Rudolph and Salma Hayek, while Dennis Dugan will return as director.
Grown Ups, which told the story of childhood friends reuniting as adults after the death of their high school basketball coach, surprised box-office experts as it took in $162 million domestically and $271 million worldwide.
LOS ANGELES, California (X17online) - French fashion house Louis Vuitton is standing by their decision to sue Warner Bros. for infringing on their trademark, after the studio featured a knockoff handbag in the film The Hangover II.
Two weeks ago, a New York judge granted a judgement victory to Louis Vuitton in a case against Hyundai, whose commercial featured one second of a basketball that closely resembled the trademark flower symbol and brown background. The court ruling proved to LV that it should be able to go forward with its claims against Warner Bros.
"As Judge Castel recently ruled in Louis Vuitton v. Hyundai, Louis Vuitton's 'aggressive' enforcement of its trademark rights and prompt action against those who misuse its trademarks are necessary concomitants of its exclusive rights in the brand," the French company says in a court filing.
In mid-March, Warner Bros. responded to the lawsuit by asserting that it had the First Amendment right to feature trademarks and real life references to brands without the consent of the owners, and that if blame needed to be placed, it should be the responsibility of the company that actually produced the knockoff bag.
Louis Vuitton maintains that the presence of knockoff bags and "tarnishment" of the brand is both harmful and illegal, thus they stand by their allegations and will proceed with the case.
LOS ANGELES, California (X17online) - The Hunger Games director Gary Ross will not return to direct the sequel Catching Fire. Amid media speculation that he would not continue to be part of the franchise, Ross released the following statement:
"After difficult but sincere consideration, I had decided not to direct Catching Fire. As a writer and director, I simply don't have the time I need to write and prep the movie I would have wanted to make because of the fixed and tight production schedule."
Lionsgate studio decided to release their own statement regarding the departure.
"We're very sorry that Gary Ross has chosen not to direct Catching Fire. We were really looking forward to making the movie with him. He did an incredible job on the first film, and we are grateful for his work. This will not be the end of our relationship, as we consider Ross to be part of the Lionsgate family and look forward to working with him in the future."
The news comes on the heels of a sit down with studio executives and Ross on Monday, where key issues like shoot dates and visions for the mega blockbuster were discussed.
The movie, which stars Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson, and Liam Hemsworth, is slated for a November 2013 release.
LOS ANGELES, California (x17online) - The Hunger Games has become the first movie since 2009's Avatar to top the box office for a fourth week in a row.
The film, based on Suzanne Collins' successful novel, took in an impressive $21.5 million this week, beating out The Three Stooges, which came in second with $17.5 million.
The Cabin in the Woods came in third at $14.9 million, Titanic 3D came in fourth with $11.6 million and American Reunion rounded out the top five earning $10.7 million.
LOS ANGELES, California (x17online) - Academy Award winner Octavia Spencer is currently in negotiations to star in an indie film revolved around the 2009 murder of Oscar Grant.
The movie, titled Fruitvale, is a drama which tells the story of the young man detained on New Year’s Day 2009 by the Bay Area Rapid Transit police and shot in the back and killed. The film's title comes from the name of the station where the tragedy took place.
If negotiations go through, Spencer will star as the protective mother of the victim. Michael B. Jordan (Chronicle) will play the 22-year-old Grant in the indie that's being produced by Forest Whitaker this summer.
LOS ANGELES, California (x17online) - The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey will hit theaters this December but Warner Bros. is offering a special sneak peek at the highly anticipated film.
The studio is set to show up to 10 minutes of Peter Jackson's latest film during their slate presentation on Tuesday at this year's CinemaCon.
The Hobbit is one of the many films that will be previewed during the theater owner's conference in Las Vegas, where every major studio is expected to show previews from their upcoming slate.
The Lord of the Rings prequel was made and will be shown at 48 frames per second, making it the first major motion picture to be created at the high frame rate.
LOS ANGELES, California (x17online) - With a week before its US debut, The Avengers have already flexed their muscle overseas with an impressive foreign debut to the tune of $178.4 million.
The highly anticipated superhero film opened at number 1 in 39 markets around the globe, breaking records in Mexico ($15.9 million), Brazil ($11.3 million), Taiwan ($7.7 million), Hong Kong ($4.6 million) and the Philippines ($6.5 million). In the U.K., the film took in $24.7 million.
The $178.4 million debut ranks ninth on the all-time foreign openings chart, with experts predicting the movie making more than $600 million once it debuts in American and other countries.
LOS ANGELES, California (x17online) - The Avengers has become the highest-grossing movie debut in the United States as the all-star superhero film took in $200.3 million dollars during its opening weekend.
With the feat, the Joss Whedon-directed film broke the record set by last year'sHarry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2.
The Disney/Marvel movie also set a record for the best opening day gross by taking in $80.5 million on Friday and has since earned $641.8 million worldwide.
LOS ANGELES, California (x17online) - Popular children's book author and illustrator Maurice Sendak has passed away today. He was 83.
The Where The Wild Things Are author died at his Danbury, Connecticut home four days after suffering a stroke. Longtime friend and caretaker Lynn Caponera was with him when Sendak died.
The acclaimed author earned the prestigious Caldecott Medal for for the best children's book of 1964, which became a movie directed by Spike Jonze in 2009. He was also awarded a National Medal of the Arts in 1996 by President Bill Clinton for his literary achievements.
LOS ANGELES, California (x17online) - Megaupload founder Kim Dotcom is going to be the subject of a documentary and biography, according to friends and associates of the indicted dot-commer.
Actor-producer Donovan Leitch and Alex Mardikian, Dotcom's friend, are in the process of producing a documentary about Dotcom, tentatively titled Mega Conspiracy. Negotiations are underway for Marc Levin (Prayer for a Perfect Season) to direct the project alongside the Leitch and Mardikian.
According to Leitch and Mardikian, journalist Neil Strauss is working on a biography for Dotcom. Strauss, a former New York Times music writer, co-wrote memoirs for Jenna Jameson, Marilyn Manson and Dave Navarro to name a few and jumped aboard the idea thanks to Leitch's influence.
Dotcom has been accused of copyright infringement through his Megaupload file-sharing service, causing more than $500 million in losses to copyright holders. The documentary will examine the case as well as the internet and content ownership.
LOS ANGELES, California (x17online) - Sony has announced today that Aaron Sorkin has been tapped to write the screenplay for their Steve Jobs biopic.
The Social Network scribe will adapt Steve Jobs, Walter Isaacson’s biography on the late Apple co-founder. The book sold 2.2 million copies last year and Sony reportedly $1 million for the rights to the biography.
“Steve Jobs’ story is unique: he was one of the most revolutionary and influential men not just of our time but of all time," Sony Pictures Entertainment co-chairman Amy Pascal said in a statement. "There is no writer working in Hollywood today who is more capable of capturing such an extraordinary life for the screen than Aaron Sorkin; in his hands, we’re confident that the film will be everything that Jobs himself was: captivating, entertaining and polarizing."
This will be the second biopic based on the innovative genius as Inferno Entertainment preps to sell their indie film Jobs with Ashton Kutcher attached.
Sorkin won a best adapted screenplay Oscar for 2010's The Social Network.
LOS ANGELES, California (x17online) - The superheroes from The Avengers are still on top of the box office for the third week in a row since its debut.
The blockbuster starring Chris Evans, Robert Downey Jr., Chris Hemsworth, Jeremy Renner, Scarlett Johansson, Mark Ruffalo and Samuel L. Jackson took in $55 million to remain in the top spot. The film has made $450 million domestically since its May 4 opening.
While The Avengers continue on its torrid pace, another big blockbuster film made an uninspiring debut. Battleship debuted in second with $25.3 million. The Dictator came in third with $24 million, Dark Shadows took in $12.5 million and rounding out the top 5 was What To Expect When You're Expecting at $10.3 million.
LOS ANGELES, California (x17online) - Universal's Snow White And The Huntsman has already revealed their previews to the public for its upcoming release but the company is raising the bar with a new interactive trailer.
The one-of-a-kind trailer offers viewers behind-the-scenes clips, movie trivia, concept art and various features which includes the chance to purchase advanced tickets.
Check out the interactive trailer below. Snow White And The Huntsman opens June 1.
LOS ANGELES, California (x17online) - Having already shot their successful Hangover franchise in Las Vegas and Thailand, the third installment will be shot primarily in Tijuana, Mexico.
According to Life & Style, an inside source revealed the location of the film, which will include some familiar locale.
"A lot of it will be shot in Los Angeles, but then they are going to do the crazy scenes in Las Vegas again and then one wild week in Tijuana," the source said.
The first film, which was shot in Las Vegas, took in an incredible $467 million at the box office while the sequel, shot in Bangkok, earned $581 million.
LOS ANGELES, California (X17online) - Transformers actress Gabriela Cedillo was awarded an $18.5 million settlement after being permanently injured during an onset stunt in September 2010. The 26-year-old was struck by a piece of metal, leaving her with memory loss, seizures, and partial blindness.
"We are pleased that the Cedillo family has agreed to move forward with the settlement. This was a tragic accident and our thoughts and prayers remain with Gabriela," a Paramount Pictures rep said in a statement Thursday.
The actress' injuries are so severe that she now requires constant care.
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