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15 articles
How To Build A Huggable Robot: ‘Big Hero 6′ At The Contenders
42 minutes ago
Big Hero 6 directors Don Hall and Chris Williams sat down with Deadline’s Dominic Patten at our recent Oscar showcase, The Contenders, to talk about creating the Disney film.
In particular, Hall and Williams discussed how they adapted an obscure set of Marvel Comics characters into the animated feature and the unlikely real-world inspiration for billowy ‘bot Baymax, the lovable nurse robot at the heart of the story.
Check out the video. Have you seen the film yet? If so, what did you think of it?
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- David Bloom
Brad Anderson To Direct Actioner ‘Shadow Run’ For Sony
57 minutes ago
Sony has just signed The Machinist‘s Brad Anderson to direct Shadow Run, the action thriller script by writer Joe Gazzam (Cliffhanger, Replay) that the studio picked up in February. The Bourne-esque spy tale is produced by Neil Moritz for Original Film and exec produced by Hernany Perla; Michael De Luca and Andrea Giannetti will oversee for Sony. Anderson, who broke out with the Christian Bale starrer The Machinist and has notched features Transsiberian, The Call, and the recent Stonehearst Aslum in recent years, has also been directing for TV on shows including The Wire, Fringe, Boardwalk Empire, and The Killing. Anderson recently helmed the pilot for Forever for ABC, WB TV, and Lin Pictures. He’s repped by Wme, Lbi Entertainment and Sloss Law.
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- Jen Yamato
Embezzlement Allegations Over SAG Pension & Health Plans End Quietly
1 hour ago
Allegations of widespread embezzlement at the SAG Pension & Health Plans that ruined the career of the benefit plans’ longtime chief administrator Bruce Dow quietly have been settled. “That case is over,” said Robin Dal Soglio, the attorney who represented Dow and the plans in a confidential arbitration of the matter. The case that started with a bang has ended with a thud.
The allegations made headlines when Craig Simmons, the plans’ executive director of human resources, alleged in 2011 that Dow was sending the plans’ insurance business to his wife and that she pocketed part of the premiums, that Dow underreported the amount of money allegedly embezzled by a former employee, that Dow paid his brother-in-law for a no-show job and that Dow used insider information to benefit his church.
In his initial 2012 lawsuit (read it here), Simmons alleged that he was wrongfully terminated in March 2011, because he wouldn’t cover »
- David Robb
Legendary Inks TV, Digital Pact With Mosaic Media
2 hours ago
Exclusive: Legendary Entertainment has inked a first-look TV and digital production pact with Jimmy Miller’s Mosaic Media Group. The companies will look to develop series programming to be distributed via traditional network and cable platforms as well as over-the-top opportunities and other online platforms.
The move represents another expansive step in Thomas Tull’s ambitious strategy for Legendary, which is looking to expand beyond its fanboy base. Mosaic reps comedy talent including Jim Carrey, Sacha Baron Cohen, Will Ferrell, and the Wayans brothers.
Mosaic most recently re-teamed with Ferrell and Adam McKay’s Gary Sanchez Productions on Manimal, the feature based on the cult 1980s TV show about a man who fights crime using his ability to morph into animals. That project has been set by Sony Pictures Animation.
Earlier today in Sydney, Legendary saw the world premiere of Angelina Jolie’s much-buzzed Louis Zamperini biopic Unbroken, which Legendary co-financed. »
- Ali Jaafar
‘The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part I’ China Release Bumped To 2015
2 hours ago
Exclusive: Here’s a twist to the end of the year at the China box office: The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part I won’t be a factor. The Lionsgate movie had been expected to release on November 21 in the Middle Kingdom, but that’s now changed. The first part of the trilogy’s finale has been moved off of that date and will not hit screens until 2015. I hear it might be as soon as January.
The reasoning behind the shift is not entirely clear — as with many things in China — but I understand the decision was quite recent. This could have to do with an encroaching Hollywood market share whereas the Chinese are known to be keen to keep local movies at the top of the heap. It’s also been suggested to me that there may have been a censorship issue stemming from some elements of violence »
- Nancy Tartaglione
‘Vampire Diaries’ Star Paul Wesley Set For Sci-Fier ‘Convergence’
2 hours ago
Exclusive: The Vampire Diaries’ Paul Wesley is jumping from the supernatural to the scientific with Convergence, a sci-fi action film that he’ll star in and produce.
Plot details are being kept under wraps, but Convergence is described as a college-age ensemble piece in the vein of Flatliners, The Matrix, and Fight Club based on real life “science fact”. It follows a group of underground biotech engineers, including an MIT student wunderkind, exploring a new technology far beyond their expectations and beyond the limits of human control.
The actor, director, and producer currently stars as Stefan Salvatore on The CW’s hit show The Vampire Diaries. The series is in its sixth season and will return from its midseason hiatus with a January episode that Wesley directed, his second after making his directorial debut on the show last season.
“My first couple of hiatuses I was looking for indies to »
- Jen Yamato
‘Pulp’ Docu Debuts Online For Free: Video
3 hours ago
Exclusive: Oscilloscope Laboratories is taking its rock doc Pulp: A Film About Life, Death & Supermarkets to the common people, for a day. The feature-length film snuck online Monday on music site Pitchfork and will stream for free in its entirety for 24 hours. Here’s a sneak peek at Pulp singer Jarvis Cocker recounting his days as a teenage fishmonger in the pic, which hits theaters nationwide on Wednesday and goes digital on iTunes, VOD, and other platforms on November 21.
Pic is by Florian Habicht (Love Story), who takes an unusual approach to his profile of the British rock band on the occasion of their final UK show in Sheffield in 2012, the hometown where the band endured a disastrous farewell concert in 1988. In addition to tracking the band itself, Habicht explores the city and fans of Sheffield, whose denizens share a great affection for Pulp and its frontman.
The move »
- Jen Yamato
Magnet Presses Play On ‘[Rec] 4: Apocalypse’
5 hours ago
Magnolia’s genre arm Magnet Releasing has acquired U.S. rights to [Rec] 4: Apocalypse, the fourth installment in the Spanish horror franchise about an epidemic of demonic possession that’s captured on camera.
Sony put out the first Rec film in 2007 and remade it as Quarantine, but Magnet has been aboard the series since releasing the second and third films stateside. Jaume Balagueró returned to direct [Rec] 4 after co-directing the first two films following a third entry that curiously veered away from the franchise’s found-footage thrills and into horror-comedy terrain. [Rec] 4 picks up after the events of the second film as young reporter Angela Vidal (Manuela Velasco) wakes up in a high-security quarantine deep within an ocean freighter and must battle the virus on the high seas.
Balagueró co-scripted with Manu Díez and Julio Fernandez and Castelao Pictures produced the pic, which debuted in the Toronto International Film Festival’s Midnight Madness »
- Jen Yamato
John August To Pen ‘Scary Stories To Tell In The Dark’ For CBS Films
5 hours ago
Exclusive: CBS Films has tapped a new scribe to spin its Scary Stories To Tell In The Dark. BAFTA-nominated John August (Big Fish, Frankenweenie, Go) will adapt the iconic book series by Alvin Schwartz that had children of the ’80s and ’90s hearing bumps in the night, penning a new script based on the best-selling spooky story collection.
The three-book children’s series that’s sold more than 7 million copies worldwide began with 1981′s Scary Stories To Tell In The Dark, continuing with More Scary Stories To Tell In The Dark (1984) and Scary Stories 3: More Tales To Chill Your Bones (1991). The collection of folk tales and urban legends also memorably haunted generations of youngsters with its surreal and nightmarish illustrations by award-winning artist Stephen Gammell.
Sean Daniel and Jason Brown of Sean Daniel Company and Elizabeth Grave of 1212 Entertainment are producing, while Roberto Grande and Joshua Long will executive produce. »
- Jen Yamato
Jon M. Chu, Focus Features Step Up To ’90s-Set ‘Can’t Touch This’
6 hours ago
Exclusive: Jem and the Holograms and G.I. Joe: Retaliation helmer Jon M. Chu is going old school. He and producing partner Hieu Ho have sold to Focus Features new project Can’t Touch This, a high school dance comedy set in the golden era of the 1990s.
The teen dance milieu has been a fruitful one for Chu, who launched his career with fan favorite sequels Step Up 2: The Streets and Step Up 3D and has quickly become one of Hollywood’s in-demand studio directors. Storyline is being kept under wraps, although the title alone evokes a part of the decade that was too legit to quit. Chu and Ho originated the idea then tapped Happy Endings and Community writers Annie Mebane and Steve Basilone to script. Mebane and Basilone know their way around retro comedies; they’re producers on ABC’s ’80s-set The Goldbergs.
Chu and Ho will »
- Jen Yamato
Im Global Strategy Pays Off With Strong Sales On ‘Free State Of Jones’ & More – Afm
9 hours ago
Exclusive: With the Afm wrapped late last week, Im Global is reporting robust sales despite what many considered to be a lackluster market. Stuart Ford’s Reliance-backed production, financing and sales company had what Ford says was one of the strongest AFMs in Im Global’s 7.5 year history. The success is part of a strategy of building relationships and a profile in growth markets like Latin America and Asia — bringing filmmakers to market to speak directly to buyers doesn’t hurt either.
The company had one of the more sought-after titles at the Loews in The Free State Of Jones. Gary Ross’ epic wartime action romance that stars Matthew McConaughey was presented to buyers on the first day of the market by Ross and producer Scott Stuber, as well as Adam Fogelson and Oren Aviv of Stx which is distributing in the U.S.
Ford closed deals on Free State »
- Nancy Tartaglione
Steve Carell Is Santa Barbara’s Outstanding Performer Of The Year
10 hours ago
The Santa Barbara International Film Festival will hand its 2015 Outstanding Performer of the Year Award to Foxcatcher star Steve Carell. A tribute celebrating his performance in Bennett Miller’s film will take place on February 6. Foxcatcher debuted in Cannes and sets an almost unrecognizable Carell as the reclusive, wrestling-obsessed millionaire John du Pont. Sbiff executive director Roger Durling says of Carell, “He’s made us laugh for so many years with his great comedic abilities, but he shows this year that his range and artistry runs deep with his career-changing performance in Foxcatcher. He is unrecognizable physically and emotionally.”
Sony Pictures Classics released Foxcatcher this past weekend on the heels of screenings at the Academy earlier this week. The film led the specialty box office, opening with a robust $288K in six theaters. Carell’s performance has stirred critical acclaim leading into awards season.
Previous Outstanding Performer Award recipients at Santa Barbara include Cate Blanchett, »
- The Deadline Team
Universal Opens Beijing Office Vowing To Ramp Up Regional Presence
12 hours ago
Signaling a concerted push into China, Universal Pictures and Comcast brass gathered at an opening ceremony for the studio’s new Beijing office today. On hand were representatives from the Chinese film industry as well as Comcast Chairman and CEO, Brian Roberts; Chairman of Universal Filmed Entertainment, Jeff Shell; President of Distribution for Universal Pictures International, Duncan Clark; and the newly appointed Evp and Managing Director of China for Upi, Jo Yan.
Universal says the establishment of Upi China, which was originally mooted one year ago, is proof of the studio’s commitment to investment in the region. Universal has plans to build a 300-acre theme park in Beijing and is ramping up its local television and consumer products business as well as content production partnerships and acquisitions. Due for release later this week in China is kung-fu action pic Rise Of The Legend which Upi is co-producing with Edko Films and Irresistible Films. »
- Nancy Tartaglione
Wanna See ‘Interstellar’ Again And Again? Par, AMC Issue The Unlimited Ticket
15 hours ago
For those Interstellar fans going through withdrawal after seeing the film the first time, Paramount and AMC Theatres have teamed up to offer them an opportunity to continually orbit screenings of the Christiopher Nolan sci-fi feature. The studio and theater chain are offering members of the latter’s frequent moviegoer club, AMC Stubs, the chance to purchase “The Interstellar Unlimited Ticket,” a first of its kind. For one price, AMC Stubs members can see Interstellar as many times as they like. Those members who’ve already seen the film have an option to upgrade. “Interstellar Unlimited Tickets” will be sold at 330 AMC locations, which reps just under 10% of the film’s current theatrical count of 3,561 theaters (AMC operates 344 theatres in the U.S., counting 4,959 screens). The “Unlimited Ticket” price varies by location, from $19.99 to $34.99. Those AMC Stubs members who have already bought a ticket can upgrade for $14.99. There is a »
- Anthony D'Alessandro
‘Interstellar’ Blasts Past $200M With $42M China Lift-Off: International Box Office
22 hours ago
1St Update, 7:02 Pm Pt: After rocketing to $82.9M in its debut last weekend, Interstellar blasted off in China on Wednesday, boosting this frame to $106M. Overseas, the cume is now $224.1M and the global haul is $321.9M. Christopher Nolan’s odyssey from the corn belt to Orion’s Belt had by far the best performance this session as most major titles have stayed out of Interstellar’s flight path, and as others are tapering off after long runs. Based on the Top 10 studio titles, this week was off from last week by less than 1% when factoring in Oriental DreamWorks’ release of Penguins Of Madagascar in China. The weekend was roughly on par with last year’s similar session. At the time, Thor: The Dark World was still hammering away at the box office and Gravity was exerting non-stop pull.
Next weekend, Interstellar goes to Japan where it will not »
- Nancy Tartaglione
15 articles