Movie News
Paramount Thanks Fans by Featuring Them in Credits on “Paranormal Activity” DVD and Blu-ray
As the nationwide phenomenon “Paranormal Activity” makes its way to the $100 million mark at the box office, Paramount Pictures is taking fan appreciation to new heights by giving back to the legion of moviegoers who helped to make the $15,000 movie a hit by featuring their names in the credits of the film’s DVD and Blu-ray editions.
Paranormal Activity Poster
“The success of “Paranormal Activity” would not have been possible without the million-plus fans who went to the ParanormalMovie.com official website and demanded the movie in their home town,”
says Amy Powell, Senior Vice President, Interactive Marketing, Paramount Pictures.
“They demanded the movie and they got it. So now we are giving them credit where credit is due.”
Sony Takes Risk: The Film of World Domination
Sony Pictures has acquired the film rights to the classic board game “Risk,” Another Hasbro board game which was invented in 1957 by French filmmaker Albert Lamorisse as “La Conquete du Monde” (Conquest of the World). Two years later, in 1959, Parker Brothers (now a division of Hasbro) published the game we all came to know as “Risk.”
Columbia Pictures president Doug Belgrad said:
Hasbro has already seen tremendous success with Transformers and GI Joe and audiences have shown a great desire for films that bring to life everything that has made these franchise properties stand the test of time.
George Clooney To Star In “The Descendants”
George Clooney is in discussions to head the cast of Alexander Payne’s comedy-drama “The Descendants.”
The movie marks Payne’s first movie since 2004’s Oscar winner “Sideways” and the first collaboration between Clooney and the director.
The movie centers on a wealthy revolves around a wealthy father who takes his two daughters on a trip to find his wife’s lover in the hope that it will keep his family together.
Screenplay for “The Descendants,” based on the debut novel of the same name by Kaui Hart Hemmings, is written by Nat Faxon and Jim Rash.
Production is scheduled to start in February in Hawaii.
Alexander Payne, Jim Burke and Jim Taylor are producing through their shingle Ad Hominem.
Clooney, who is currently shooting Anton Corbijn-directed thriller “The American,” has three films set for release in the coming weeks – he is the voice of the title character in Wes Anderson’s “Fantastic Mr. Fox” movie, “Up in the Air” and can be seen in comedy “The Men Who Stare at Goats” from this Friday.
DreamWorks Studios and Doubleday Acquire Rights to “Robopocalypse”
DreamWorks Studios and Doubleday have acquired, in a pre-emptive deal, the rights to Daniel H. Wilson’s unpublished manuscript, “Robopocalypse,” it was announced today by Mark Sourian and Holly Bario, Co-Presidents of Production at the studio, and Jason Kaufman, Executive Editor and Vice President, at Doubleday.
DreamWorks acquired the film rights from literary manager Justin Manask and is putting the project into accelerated development. Kaufman acquired world publishing rights to “Robopocalypse” from Laurie Fox at the Linda Chester Literary Agency and a tentative 2011 publication date has been set for the book.
“Robopocalypse” explores the fate of the human race following a robot uprising.
Mark Sourian said:
“Daniel H. Wilson’s cautionary tale of man versus machine grabbed us from the very beginning”
“Wilson’s background in robotics and artificial intelligence grounds his story with a frightening level of realism and he has created an exhilarating story that we think audiences will really respond to.”
“As a book editor, you’re always looking for something unique and riveting to come across the transom,” said Jason Kaufman. “‘Robopocalypse’ is one of the most exciting and original novels I’ve read in a very long time. Daniel H. Wilson is not only a brilliant robotics engineer but also an extraordinary writing talent.”
International “Salt” Trailer
The first Russian trailer for Angelina Jolie’s upcoming spy thriller, “Salt” has appeared online.
Evelyn Salt (Angelina Jolie) is a CIA officer who swore an oath to duty, honor, and country. When she is accused by a defector of being a Russian sleeper spy, Salt goes on the run to clear her name and ultimately prove she is a patriot. Using all her skills and years of experience as a covert operative, she must elude capture and protect her husband or the world’s most powerful forces will erase any trace of her existence.
The film, directed by Phillip Noyce (Catch a Fire)from script by Kurt Wimmer and Brian Helgeland, co-stars Liev Schreiber (Defiance, X-Men Origins: Wolverine) as Winter, her ally and supervisor in the CIA’s Russia office, and Chiwetel Ejiofor (Children of Men, American Gangster) as Peabody, a counterintelligence officer who tries to take her down.
Helen Mirren Joins “Red”
Helen Mirren has joined the cast of “Red,” big screen adaptation of the WildStorm/DC Comics book.
The movie will also star Bruce Willis and Morgan Freeman.
The “Red” comic book was written by noted author Warren Ellis and illustrated by Cully Hamner.
It focuses on Paul Moses, a retired CIA operative that is forced back into the espionage game after he is betrayed by the government he had dedicated his life to protect.
Bruce Willis plays Moses in the film, while actor Morgan Freeman plays the CIA higher-up that orders the execution of Moses.
There’s no word on who exactly Mirren will be playing
Two “Sherlock Holmes” TV Spots
The first TV Spots for the upcoming Guy Ritchie ’s upcoming action adventure “Sherlock Holmes” have been released. Check them out below.
The latest film adaptation of author Arthur Conan Doyle’s fictional detective character revolves around Holmes and Watson as they try to stop a conspiracy that could destroy Britain, opening with Holmes apprehending cult leader ‘Lord Blackwood’ (Mark Strong), who promises he will return from the dead and exact his revenge, while being led to the gallows.
