The Daily Mail have the first set photo of Justin Timberlake in David Fincher’s The Social Network. The film tells the story of the creation of Facebook. In the film, Timberlake plays internet entrepreneur Sean Parker, the co-founder of Napster), who began informally advising Mark Zuckerberg (played in the film by Jesse Eisenberg), the co-creator of Facebook, and later became its president when the company incorporated in 2004. Check out the full photo after the jump.
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“Dad bet my NYU tuition on The Road and now we’re homeless.” The concept of organized box office betting is nothing new—see the simulated and long operating Hollywood Stock Exchange. But with the incorporation of real dollars, might the concept be new to the mafia? A start-up website and business called The Cantor Exchange is awaiting regulatory approval to open the floodgates on real time betting on Hollywood productions, beginning six months before a film’s release. The company behind the Cantor Exchange is Cantor Fitzgerald, a global finances firm that also operates the aforementioned HSX and will implement that site’s infrastructure with a capitalistic twist.
Information gathered by the HSX reportedly already informs legitimate box office betting in the UK, and foreseeably anyone of age in the U.S. will soon be able to participate. But what are the implications of online betting for Hollywood (Showbiz 411 wonders about insider trading), not to mention for the state of film? And c’mon, what geek or arm chair analyst isn’t channeling Gordon Scrooge McDuck Gekko IV right now with dreams of getting paid, bitch? Right? Or Wrong?
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Keith Arem, director of Activision Blizzard’s popular video game Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, will make his feature directorial debut on Frost Road, an action thriller that Cary Brokaw (Closer) will produce along with Steven L’Heureux.
The film will tell the story of a small coastal Eastern town which is suddenly and inexplicably devastated by an invisible contagion. A young man awakens from a car accident to discover he is one of few survivors in the aftermath of a mysterious outbreak. Somehow immune, he tries to save the remaining survivors from themselves, as he desperately struggles to prevent the deadly wave from spreading across the entire planet.
Years ago I thought that the next generation of feature film directors would be plucked out of music videos (Spike Jonze, Michel Gondry, Mark Romanek) but in these post Napster/Mtv times, that no longer seems to be the big training ground that it use to be. Some believe that the next generation of feature directors will be born out of commercials, but I think the time constraints, the process and sometimes limited creative collaboration will hold this medium back from producing many hopefuls. Others have said that the next generation of feature directors will come from video games. Is this the start of that trend?
Read the full press release after the jump.
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Hot on the heels of the new poster and those comments from Jeff Bridges about the first Iron Man, Paramount has dropped four new images from Iron Man 2. (I didn’t intend to do two Iron Man posts in a row, I swear.) These aren’t earth-shaking; we see only Mickey Rourke’s appearance from early in the film and the photo of Scarlett Johansson as Black Widow basically repeats what we saw of her in previous photos and the Comic Con footage. But since most of you haven’t seen the Comic Con footage, that’s not a bad thing. All the images after the break. Read More »
Universal has announced that they will release the first “Flipper disc” which will feature the Blu-Ray version of a movie on one side, and the DVD version on the other. I’ve always believed that a dual format release media like this is the key to getting consumers to eventually switch to Blu-Ray. The first release will be The Jason Bourne trilogy on January 19th 2010. Full press release after the jump.
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Can’t you just hear the headline quote above intoned in The Dude’s spacey tones? You may have heard about the fact that Iron Man came together more or less without a solid script, but according to Jeff Bridges it was definitely ‘less.’ Read his take on the shoot, which essentially sounds like the actors and Jon Favreau improvised big segments of the movie, after the break. Read More »
Brent Forrester, who got his start on The Ben Stiller Show and has been working on The Office for some time, is teaming with fellow Office writer Mindy Kaling (who also plays Kelly Kapoor to great effect) on The Low Self Esteem of Lizzie Gillespie, which they’ve set up at Mandate Pictures. Mandate was the home of breakout hit Juno, so could also be a great starting gate for this story of a woman with disastrously low self-confidence. Read More »
Planetadisney has a new international poster for Walt Disney Pictures big screen adaptation of the popular video game Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time. I really don’t like this poster at all, and especially the obnoxiously loud tagline “COURAGE”.
Meanwhile, videogamemaker Ubisoft is reporting a $109 million loss on $232 million in sales during the first half of its fiscal year due to a lack of major titles, according to Variety. But the company is betting on the new Disney movie and a newly announced tie-in video game sequel, Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands, which will be timed with the Memorial Day release of the film, to turn things around.
If you haven’t seen the previously released trailers, you should check them out: Domestic Trailer 1 and International Trailer 1. Check out the full poster after the jump.
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Here’s some great news about a film that, just by virtue of existence, is now high on my ‘to watch’ list for 2010. I knew that Takeshi Kitano had been shooting a new film (mentioned it in passing here, while talking about Ryo Kase working with Gus Van Sant) but we haven’t had any details about it. And while he’s talked about going back to gangster pictures, we didn’t know for certain that’s what this new film would be.
Now the details are out: the film is called Outrage and it is indeed a film about Japanese criminals. Will it stack up against Sonatine? If it even comes close, I’ll be happy. Read More »
The first big bash of the awards season took place last night as the 19th Annual Gotham Independent Film Awards gave out top honors to The Hurt Locker, Food Inc. and Big Fan director Robert Siegel. Best Feature went to The Hurt Locker (Kathryn Bigelow, director; Kathryn Bigelow, Mark Boal, Nicolas Chartier, Greg Shapiro, producers) which also won Best Ensemble Performance. Best Documentary deservedly went to Food, Inc. (Robert Kenner, director; Robert Kenner, Elise Pearlstein, producers) and the Breakthrough Director award went to Siegel.
After the break, nominations for the Independent Spirit Awards and the animation-oriented Annies. Read More »
Casting has started for the voice cast of Tim Burton’s upcoming stop-motion feature Frankenweenie, being adapted from his rather winning live-action short film. From the break down of characters, and the descriptions of some of their actions, it is becoming clear just how the redo will break away from the storyline of the original.
Seeing as some of this is potentially light-ish spoiler material, I’ll hide it after the break. What isn’t sensitive information is the news that these characters are all children aged between 8 and 11. I’m sure the screenplay is more specific than this, but it is interesting to note the absence of adult roles. It’s likely that this is because the adults will be cast with Burton stalwarts and Casting Director recommendations, not respondents to open casting calls. The lead role of Victor, also a child, has been left off of the list too - which starkid voice do you think they might go for?
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Just as there’s talk of the last Twilight novel being adapted into two films, here we’ve got the first official photo from the first of two films that will adapt the final Harry Potter novel, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. There was that photo of Harry walking around in a misty forest that showed up many months ago, but this is the first official look at the heroic trio of Harry (Daniel Radcliffe), Ron (Rupert Grint) and Hermione (Emma Watson). Isn’t it special? Read More »
This Week in DVD & Blu-ray is a column that compiles all the latest info regarding new DVD and Blu-ray releases, sales, and exclusive deals from stores including Target, Best Buy and Fry’s.
TERMINATOR SALVATION
There’s a certain expectation of quality that comes with viewing a sequel to an established franchise. In Terminator Salvation, the director of Charlie’s Angels joins forces with the screenwriters of Catwoman to remind us why those expectations usually result in the metaphorical equivalent of a grown man gleefully defecating all over our most cherished memories. It’s the type of film where it’s much easier to pinpoint what it does well, if only because it gets everything else so disastrously wrong. The positives can be counted on a single hand, with the action sequences being the primary standout—and the sole reason the film is being listed under the “Rent it” section. If you can separate yourself from the rest of the series, and view the film as no more than CGI-heavy eye candy and a compilation of Transformers-esque robotic mayhem, Terminator Salvation is watchable enough to please those undeterred by studio-manufactured Summer blockbuster silliness. The only other highlights worth mentioning are stars Sam Worthington and Anton Yelchin, who manage to do an admirable job breathing life into characters otherwise completely devoid of personality. The rest of the cast doesn’t fare as well, with literally every other role barely even registering enough to make an impression. Christian Bale in particular disappoints, reducing the should-be-badass John Connor into “military guy who shouts a lot”. Meanwhile, any opportunity the film may have had to redeem itself in the story/storytelling department is quickly thwarted by an embarrassingly illogical and self-defeating central conflict (Spoiler alert: Skynet is stupid), as well as a non-stop array of cringe-inducing lines and shamelessly flagrant callbacks to previous Terminator entries.
Blu-ray? Yes.
Notable Extras: DVD – Includes the theatrical cut of the film, along with a Moto-Terminator featurette. Blu-ray – Includes the theatrical and directors cuts of the film, along with featurettes (”Re-Forging the Future”, “The Moto-Terminator”), a “Resist or Be Terminated” Video Archive, a Terminator Salvation Official Movie Prequel Digital Comic Issue #1, a WB Maximum Movie Mode, Focus Points, and a digital copy of the theatrical version.
| BEST DVD PRICE |
| Target |
Best Buy |
Fry’s |
| $15.99 |
$15.99 |
$14.77 |
| Amazon – $9.99 |
| BEST BLU-RAY PRICE |
| Target |
Best Buy |
Fry’s |
| $19.99 |
$19.99 |
N/A |
| Amazon – $16.99 |
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Because you demanded it! Or because one movie isn’t enough for all of Breaking Dawn’s rib-breaking, belly-chewing, vampire-baby lovin’ goodness. Or because The Twilight Saga: New Moon made a metric fuckton of money. Whatever the reason, Summit Entertainment isn’t just promising to make a film based on the final book in Stephanie Meyer’s Twilight series. They’re talking about making two. Read More »
Nakatomi has released “The White Dragon”, a new print inspired by Ridley Scott’s Blade Runner. This print is a collaboration by artist Tim Doyle and colorist Nick Derington, the lead animator on Richard Linklater’s adaptation of another Philip K. Dick adaptation, A Scanner, Darkly.
“He Say you a BRADE RUNNAH!” Measuring 12×24, this 4 color print is printed with color overlays and silver metallic rain in an edition of 120. Each print is hand numbered and signed by both artists. Hand printed by Doyle at the Nakatomi Print Labs for $30. The art print is also available in a glow-in-the-dark variant. Measuring 12×24, this 5 color print is printed with color overlays and silver metallic rain in an edition of 30. All the white areas glow, as well as faintly on the blue. Each print is hand numbered and signed by both artists, available for $50.
The reason why I love this print is that Doyle was able to accurately capture the famous scene from Scott’s sci-fi classic, even though much of the city production design doesn’t appear within the film frame, and possibly doesn’t even exist. After the jump I’ve included freeze frames from Blade Runner showing you what Doyle had to work with, which should make you appreciate this art print even more. Check out the full print design after the jump.
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