Has anyone actually ordered a movie off DirecTV‘s controversial Premium Video On Demand service? Beginning in April, several studios teamed up with the cable provider to offer their movies only two months after they hit theaters for the price of $29.95, much to the dismay of theater owners and filmmakers alike. According to The Hollywood Reporter, “there is persistent buzz that it has fallen flat among consumers.” Still, major filmmakers are continuing to stand up against the service, probably because as the summer season wears on, the selections will get better than the currently, and soon to be, available Sucker Punch or Battle: Los Angeles.
Previously, filmmakers like James Cameron, Michael Bay, Peter Jackson and more signed an open letter written by the National Association of Theater Owners vehemently attacking this service and now Christopher Nolan, Jon Favreau, Quentin Tarantino, M. Night Shyamalan, David Dobkin, Mark Boal and others have also signed the letter. We’ve printed it in the past, but you can once again read it after the jump. Read More »
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Despite writing and directing a multiple Razzie award-winning film his last time out, M. Night Shyamalan has now officially bagged two major stars for his follow-up. Shyamalan had previously mentioned he was prepping a sci-fi film for Jaden Smith and that’s just been made official, adding the news that Jaden will co-star with his father, Will Smith.
The Sony Pictures press release refers to the film as “an untitled sci-fi adventure” but, last year, Shyamalan had been calling it One Thousand A.E. That title fits with the current description, which says that, one thousand years after Earth has been abandoned, a young boy and his father return to the now frightening planet after their spaceship crashes. The script was co-written by Shyamalan and Gary Whitta. Read more after the jump. Read More »
The Golden Raspberry Award Foundation have announced the “dis-hours” for the year in film that was 2010. M. Night Shyamalan’s The Last Airbender swept this year’s awards, winning Worst Director, Worst Picture, Worst Screenplay and a brand-new category created for this year’s awards — Worst Eye-Gouging Mis-Use of 3-D. Jackson Rathbone also took home the award for Worst Supporting Actor for both Airbender and The Twilight Saga’s Eclipse.
Read the full list of winners (or should I say losers?) in the press release after the jump.
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Last month it was revealed that Jaden Smith had been cast in director M. Night Shyamalan‘s new project, a science fiction film scripted by ournalist-turned-screenwriter Gary Whitta (The Book of Eli) titled One Thousand A.E.
At the time we didn’t know much about the project, with story details being kept tightly under wraps. The only things we were told were that it was being “developed as a vehicle for Jaden Smith” in conjunction with Overbrook Entertainment, the production company responsible for The Karate Kid, run by Will Smith, James Lassiter, Ken Stovitz, and Jada Pinkett. In addition, although there’s an adult male lead in the film, father Will is not planning to take on the part.
We now have learned a couple small new bits of information about the project.
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Posted on Wednesday, October 20th, 2010 by David Chen
Say what you will about director M. Night Shyamalan, but the man knows how to stay busy and keep putting himself out there. Even though his last film, The Last Airbender, was destroyed by film critics everywhere, it went onto gross over $300 million worldwide, fueling speculation about a possible sequel. Moreover, Drew and John Erick Dowdle’s trapped-in-an-elevator film, Devil, bore Shyamalan’s “Night Chronicles” label and did decent business.
Back in June, prior to Airbender’s release, we learned that M. Night had some pretty spectacular talent lined up for his next script, which had Bruce Willis and Gwyneth Paltrow “loosely attached.” We’ve now learned that that script has been shelved, in favor of a new project called One Thousand A.E. Hit the jump to learn what we know.
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Briefly: M Night Shyamalan and Media Rights Capital are moving full speed ahead with the ‘Night Chronicles’ series, audience laughter at trailers for Devil be damned. (And, honestly, I half expect the people that see Devil to come away liking it. But we’ll find out soon enough.) A while back, Buried screenwriter Chris Sparling was hired to write the second Night Chronicles film, Twelve Strangers.
The name of the film has now been changed; it will go out under the title Reincarnate, according to Deadline. The same report also confirms the hire of The Last Exorcism director Daniel Stamm to helm the picture. No other info is available, including casting. The film won’t shoot until next year, so the cast info will be a couple months off.
Other than the title, it doesn’t sound like much has changed. The logline remains “While deciding the fate of an accused murderer, a jury is haunted by supernatural forces that hold the key to the case.” Meanwhile, the Night Chronicles film I’m more curious to hear about is the third, which will supposedly be based on some major story point and/or character originally devised for Unbreakable 2.
The world seems to have gotten tired of M Night Shyamalan‘s films and the filmmaker does not understand why. College Humor has created a faux movie trailer for a Charlie Kaufman-esque film starring M Night as himself, trying to figure out the big twist t the end of his career. What could it be? Watch the trailer after the jump.
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Posted on Tuesday, September 7th, 2010 by David Chen
This week, David Chen, Devindra Hardawar, and Adam Quigley discuss whether or not 3D really is the future, praise the quiet certitude of The American, reflect on the sprawling nature of the Red Riding trilogy, and try to figure out why people in theaters are boo-ing at the mention of M. Night Shyamalan. Special guest Matt Singer joins us from IFC News.
You can always e-mail us at slashfilmcast(AT)gmail(DOT)com, or call and leave a voicemail at 781-583-1993. We’ll be back on Sunday (9/19) at 10 PM EST / 7 PM PST at Slashfilm’s live page to review The Town.
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