First Ed Harris’ Western “Appaloosa” Photos
Appaloosa: Ed Harris
The first photos from Ed Harris‘ upcoming western “Appaloosa” has been unveiled.
The story is adapted from Robert B. Parker’s novel of the same name. The western is set in 1882 in the Old West territory of New Mexico, “Appaloosa” pivots around city marshal Virgil Cole (Ed Harris) and his deputy and partner Everett Hitch (Viggo Mortensen), who made their status by keeping peace in the lawless towns springing up in the untamed land.In the small mining community of Appaloosa, a heartless, powerful rancher named Randall Bragg (Jeremy Irons) allowed his band of outlaws to run roughshod over the town. After the cold-blooded murder of Appaloosa’s city marshal, Cole and Hitch are hired to bring the murderer to justice.
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New Line Cinema Becomes Part of Warner Bros
New Line Cinema, who took a massive hit late last year with The Golden Compass, and haven’t had much luck at the box office throughout the past year will now become part of Warner Bros.
In making the announcement, Time Warner’s President and Chief Executive Officer Jeff Bewkes said:
“We are moving quickly to improve our business performance and financial returns. New Line has built a strong franchise of cutting-edge entertainment. We can enhance its value by combining it with Warner Bros. Given the trend toward fewer movie releases, New Line and Warner Bros. will now have more complementary release slates, with New Line focusing on genres that have been its strength.
With the growing importance of international revenues, it makes sense for New Line to retain its international film rights and to exploit them through Warner Bros.’ global distribution infrastructure. We can also take better advantage of digital distribution platforms by combining our studios. These changes will enhance our revenue opportunities and drive dramatic cost efficiencies and higher margins at New Line.”
New Line will now do so as part of Warner Bros. and will probably be a much smaller operation than in the past. Time Warner hopes that operating New Line as a unit of Warner Bros. will allow New Line to focus on the creative side of movie-making, while reducing costs and taking advantage of Warner Bros.’ distribution systems.
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Tolkien Estate Sues New Line Cinema
The estate of “Lord of the Rings” creator J.R.R. Tolkien is suing the film studio that released the trilogy based on his books, claiming the company hasn’t paid it a penny from the estimated $6 billion the films have grossed worldwide.
The suit, filed Monday, claims New Line was required to pay 7.5 percent of gross receipts to Tolkien’s estate and other plaintiffs, who contend they only received an upfront payment of $62,500 for the three movies before production began.
The writer’s estate, a British charity dubbed The Tolkien Trust, and original “Lord of the Rings” publisher HarperCollins filed the lawsuit against New Line Cinema in Los Angeles Superior Court. If successful, it could block the long-awaited prequel to the films.
Robert Pini, a spokesman for Time Warner Inc.’s New Line, declined to comment.
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