China Vetos $50m Hollywood Epic Over Opium Scenes
With the US and China at loggerheads over the arrest of four Chinese nationals on suspicion of espionage and Steven Spielberg’s decision to withdraw as an artistic advisor to this summer’s Olympic Games, it seems only fitting that the ongoing battle between Hollywood and China’s film authorities should remain as eventful as ever.Chinese authorities have threatened to derail Mikael Hafstrom’s upcoming Chinese shoot of the $50m (£24m) period epic Shanghai, set to star John Cusack and Gong Li.While specifics were unclear, it is understood that Hollywood’s latest China crisis has erupted over scenes in the script that depict opium use among Chinese.
Eager to portray their people in the best possible light in the year of the Olympics, officials at China’s Film Bureau have demanded changes to the story.
Hafstrom has been in pre-production in China since September ahead of the scheduled March 10 start date and might need to begin scouting for alternative locations if a revised script doesn’t meet with approval.
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‘Jaws’ Star Roy Scheider Has Died At The Age Of 75.
The actor, Roy Scheider, passed away yesterday in hospital in Little Rock, Arkansas.
He is believed to have died from complications from a staph infection after being treated for multiple myeloma, a cancer of the plasma cells, for the past two years.
Scheider was nominated for a Best Supporting Actor Oscar for 1971 movie The French Connection and Best Actor for 1979’s All That Jazz.
However, he was most famous for his role as Police Chief Martin Brody in Steven Spielberg’s 1975 film Jaws, the first to earn $100m at the box office.
Co-star Richard Dreyfuss told the BBC: “He was a wonderful guy. He was what I call a knockaround actor. A knockaround actor to me is a compliment that means a professional that lives the life of a professional actor and doesn’t yell and scream at the fates and does his job and does it as well as he can.”
Scheider is survived by second wife Brenda Seimer and three children.
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Steven Spielberg, Peter Jackson and DreamWorks’ trilogy ‘Tintin’
Peter Jackson is set to reteam with his performance-capture muse Andy Serkis for DreamWorks’ trilogy ‘Tintin’
which is based on Georges Remi’s Belgian comic-strip. Steven Spielberg and Jackson will each helm at least one of the three films, though DreamWorks declined comment on the specific lineup.
Serkis, who has collaborated with Jackson on several films by providing the human expression and movements behind such CG characters as Gollum in ’The Lord of the Rings’ trilogy and the big ape in ’King Kong’ has signed on to star in the films. DreamWorks was mum on which character or characters the actor will play but said it will not be the titular Tintin.
Pics will chronicle the adventures of Tintin, a junior reporter who will follow stories even though he often finds his own life in jeopardy.
Principal photography on the first film is scheduled to begin in September.
Films will be based on three stories from “The Adventures of Tintin” series by Remi, who wrote under the pen name of Herge, and will be produced in full digital 3-D using performance capture technology. Jackson’s New Zealand-based WETA Digital will provide the f/x work, which will commence before the September start date.
Serkis was nominated for a Golden Globe last week for his supporting role in the TV series ’Longford’
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