Exclusive: Airplane! writer-directors David Zucker, Jim Abrahams, and Jerry Zucker are teaming up with a cast of celebrities and industry figures to chronicle the making of the influential hit 1980 comedy.
Audiobook Surely You Can’t Be Serious will be narrated by the trio of filmmakers alongside comedians and actors Jimmy Kimmel, Bill Hader, “Weird” Al Yankovic, Molly Shannon, Sarah Silverman, Patton Oswalt and Beau Bridges, and industry including John Landis, Barry Diller and Michael Eisner. It will also include contributions from original Airplane! cast members Bob Hays and Julie Hagerty.
Airplane! premiered on July 2, 1980. With a budget of $3.5M, it went on to make more than $80M at the box office. The slapstick comedy sees a neurotic ex-fighter pilot have to land a commercial airplane after the crew becomes sick with food poisoning.
The audiobook will also chart the story of the Zaz trio, charting the rise...
Audiobook Surely You Can’t Be Serious will be narrated by the trio of filmmakers alongside comedians and actors Jimmy Kimmel, Bill Hader, “Weird” Al Yankovic, Molly Shannon, Sarah Silverman, Patton Oswalt and Beau Bridges, and industry including John Landis, Barry Diller and Michael Eisner. It will also include contributions from original Airplane! cast members Bob Hays and Julie Hagerty.
Airplane! premiered on July 2, 1980. With a budget of $3.5M, it went on to make more than $80M at the box office. The slapstick comedy sees a neurotic ex-fighter pilot have to land a commercial airplane after the crew becomes sick with food poisoning.
The audiobook will also chart the story of the Zaz trio, charting the rise...
- 9/27/2023
- by Andreas Wiseman
- Deadline Film + TV
It’s New Year’s Eve once again over at Trailers From Hell, so you know what that means, fellow cineastes: it’s Val Kilmer’s birthday!
As such, our Kilmer Birthday Committee (of one) will continue its annual tradition of watching one Val classic in celebration. Tonight’s entertainment: the criminally under-seen and intensely silly Zucker-Abrahams-Zucker adventure comedy Top Secret! (1984), a mash-up Elvis musical/spy caper parody picture. This relentlessly unserious entertainment carries special significance for Kilmerphiles, as it brought the world Val’s first-ever feature film role.
Now when Val Kilmer makes his celluloid acting debut, he’s not just some featured extra, or the 12th lead, or whatever. Don’t be silly. He’s the star, damn it.
In Top Secret!, that means he’s Nick Rivers, a Presley-esque rock and roller who finds himself inadvertently at the heart of an attempted hostile overseas takeover. This raucous...
As such, our Kilmer Birthday Committee (of one) will continue its annual tradition of watching one Val classic in celebration. Tonight’s entertainment: the criminally under-seen and intensely silly Zucker-Abrahams-Zucker adventure comedy Top Secret! (1984), a mash-up Elvis musical/spy caper parody picture. This relentlessly unserious entertainment carries special significance for Kilmerphiles, as it brought the world Val’s first-ever feature film role.
Now when Val Kilmer makes his celluloid acting debut, he’s not just some featured extra, or the 12th lead, or whatever. Don’t be silly. He’s the star, damn it.
In Top Secret!, that means he’s Nick Rivers, a Presley-esque rock and roller who finds himself inadvertently at the heart of an attempted hostile overseas takeover. This raucous...
- 1/1/2023
- by Alex Kirschenbaum
- Trailers from Hell
Exclusive: Village Roadshow is bolstering its television ranks.
The company’s television arm has hired Cory Lanier, who has worked on series including Amazon’s Hunters and Jordan Peele comedy series Weird City.
Lanier joins as SVP, Scripted Television. He will report to Village Roadshow’s Alix Jaffe, EVP, Television.
He will help the company produce scripted content across all platforms including streaming, network, and syndication.
Lanier joins from Sreda Global, where he was SVP, establishing an LA studio for the international company. He was previously VP, Television Series and Digital at Sonar Entertainment, where he produced Weird City and Amazon docuseries Lorena as well as exec producing Team Downey’s YouTube Premium docuseries The Age of AI.
In addition to helping develop and oversee Hunters, he had a four year stint at Legendary Television, serving as Vice President, Television and Digital Studios, and also worked for veteran film producer Hunt Lowry.
The company’s television arm has hired Cory Lanier, who has worked on series including Amazon’s Hunters and Jordan Peele comedy series Weird City.
Lanier joins as SVP, Scripted Television. He will report to Village Roadshow’s Alix Jaffe, EVP, Television.
He will help the company produce scripted content across all platforms including streaming, network, and syndication.
Lanier joins from Sreda Global, where he was SVP, establishing an LA studio for the international company. He was previously VP, Television Series and Digital at Sonar Entertainment, where he produced Weird City and Amazon docuseries Lorena as well as exec producing Team Downey’s YouTube Premium docuseries The Age of AI.
In addition to helping develop and oversee Hunters, he had a four year stint at Legendary Television, serving as Vice President, Television and Digital Studios, and also worked for veteran film producer Hunt Lowry.
- 6/17/2022
- by Peter White
- Deadline Film + TV
A secret reboot of the 90s actioner Eraser with Arnold Schwarzenegger has been filmed. Called Eraser: Reborn the film was shot under-the-radar this summer with cast also including Jacky Lai (V-Wars), McKinley Belcher III (Ozark) and Eddie Ramos (Animal Kingdom). John Pogue who made Deep Blue Sea 3 directed.
The film follows U.S. Marshal Mason Pollard who specializes in engineering the fake deaths of witnesses that need to leave no trace of their existence.
Producers are Hunt Lowry (...
The film follows U.S. Marshal Mason Pollard who specializes in engineering the fake deaths of witnesses that need to leave no trace of their existence.
Producers are Hunt Lowry (...
- 9/13/2021
- QuietEarth.us
Exclusive: Shadowhunters: The Mortal Instruments and Penny Dreadful: City of Angels star Dominic Sherwood is starring in a Warner Bros reboot of its 1996 Arnold Schwarzenegger action pic Eraser.
Eraser: Reborn was shot under-the-radar this summer with cast also including Jacky Lai (V-Wars), McKinley Belcher III (Ozark) and Eddie Ramos (Animal Kingdom). John Pogue (Deep Blue Sea 3) directed.
The film follows U.S. Marshal Mason Pollard who specializes in engineering the fake deaths of witnesses that need to leave no trace of their existence.
Producers are The Last of the Mohicans and First Knight producer Hunt Lowry and Patty Reed (Deep Blue Sea 3). Lowry has had a longtime connection with Warner Bros via his Roserock Films banner.
The movie, which is now in post-production, has been made for Warner Bros Home Entertainment for a probable release in spring 2022. We hear there will...
Eraser: Reborn was shot under-the-radar this summer with cast also including Jacky Lai (V-Wars), McKinley Belcher III (Ozark) and Eddie Ramos (Animal Kingdom). John Pogue (Deep Blue Sea 3) directed.
The film follows U.S. Marshal Mason Pollard who specializes in engineering the fake deaths of witnesses that need to leave no trace of their existence.
Producers are The Last of the Mohicans and First Knight producer Hunt Lowry and Patty Reed (Deep Blue Sea 3). Lowry has had a longtime connection with Warner Bros via his Roserock Films banner.
The movie, which is now in post-production, has been made for Warner Bros Home Entertainment for a probable release in spring 2022. We hear there will...
- 9/13/2021
- by Andreas Wiseman
- Deadline Film + TV
Cmnty Culture Films, a sub-division of Philip Lawrence’s Cmnty Culture, announced that they will be the lead production company on “The Last Plantation.”
The film, which marks the company’s debut project, follows the untold true story of a Black soybean farmer, John Boyd Jr., and white accident attorney, James Farrin, as they overcome long odds and Washington gridlock to obtain $1.25 billion for over 18,000 Black farmers who had been discriminated against by the U.S. government. Boyd Jr. and Farrin took on the U.S. Department of Agriculture (Usda) — which had been nicknamed “the last plantation,” after decades of reported unjust treatment of Black farmers — with the case ultimately resulting in one of the largest civil rights settlements in history.
“The Last Plantation showcases everything that Cmnty Culture stands for with its underlying themes of racial justice and social equity,” Lawrence said, announcing the project. “It’s an important story to tell,...
The film, which marks the company’s debut project, follows the untold true story of a Black soybean farmer, John Boyd Jr., and white accident attorney, James Farrin, as they overcome long odds and Washington gridlock to obtain $1.25 billion for over 18,000 Black farmers who had been discriminated against by the U.S. government. Boyd Jr. and Farrin took on the U.S. Department of Agriculture (Usda) — which had been nicknamed “the last plantation,” after decades of reported unjust treatment of Black farmers — with the case ultimately resulting in one of the largest civil rights settlements in history.
“The Last Plantation showcases everything that Cmnty Culture stands for with its underlying themes of racial justice and social equity,” Lawrence said, announcing the project. “It’s an important story to tell,...
- 6/10/2021
- by Antonio Ferme
- Variety Film + TV
As we get ready to bid farewell to the month of April, we have one last slate of home media releases this week to look forward to, and there are some really fun titles headed home that genre fans do not want to miss out on. Arrow is showing Donnie Darko some love this Tuesday in 4K with their 2-Disc Limited Edition Collector’s Set, and they’ve also put together a Steelbook edition for Elvira: Mistress of the Dark as well.
Severin Films is also keeping busy with their release of Joe D’Amato’s Deep Blood and Vinegar Syndrome is resurrecting both Rush Week and Last Gasp in HD as well. Other releases for April 27th include Werewolves on Wheels, Murder Bury Win, The Time Travelers, Beware the Children, Berserkers, Bad Witch and Pipeline.
Deep Blood
In a career that forever raised the bar for everything from hookers, cannibals and necrophiles to Ator,...
Severin Films is also keeping busy with their release of Joe D’Amato’s Deep Blood and Vinegar Syndrome is resurrecting both Rush Week and Last Gasp in HD as well. Other releases for April 27th include Werewolves on Wheels, Murder Bury Win, The Time Travelers, Beware the Children, Berserkers, Bad Witch and Pipeline.
Deep Blood
In a career that forever raised the bar for everything from hookers, cannibals and necrophiles to Ator,...
- 4/26/2021
- by Heather Wixson
- DailyDead
The Donnie Darko 4K Ultra HD and Blu-ray 2-Disc Limited Edition Collector’s Set will be available April 27th from Arrow Video
I Want You To Watch The Movie Screen. There S Something I Want To Show You.
Donnie is a troubled high school student: in therapy, prone to sleepwalking and in possession of an imaginary friend, a six-foot rabbit named Frank, who tells him the world is going to end in 28 days, 06 hours, 42 minutes and 12 seconds. During that time he will navigate teenage life, narrowly avoid death in the form of a falling jet engine, follow Frank s maladjusted instructions and try to maintain the space-time continuum.Donnie Darko combines an eye-catching, eclectic cast pre-stardom Jake and Maggie Gyllenhaal, heartthrob Patrick Swayze, former child star Drew Barrymore, Oscar nominees Mary McDonnell and Katharine Ross, and television favorite Noah Wyle and an evocative soundtrack of 80s classics by Echo and the Bunnymen,...
I Want You To Watch The Movie Screen. There S Something I Want To Show You.
Donnie is a troubled high school student: in therapy, prone to sleepwalking and in possession of an imaginary friend, a six-foot rabbit named Frank, who tells him the world is going to end in 28 days, 06 hours, 42 minutes and 12 seconds. During that time he will navigate teenage life, narrowly avoid death in the form of a falling jet engine, follow Frank s maladjusted instructions and try to maintain the space-time continuum.Donnie Darko combines an eye-catching, eclectic cast pre-stardom Jake and Maggie Gyllenhaal, heartthrob Patrick Swayze, former child star Drew Barrymore, Oscar nominees Mary McDonnell and Katharine Ross, and television favorite Noah Wyle and an evocative soundtrack of 80s classics by Echo and the Bunnymen,...
- 3/30/2021
- by Tom Stockman
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
On July 28, 1999 Renny Harlin’s Deep Blue Sea swam into theaters and was the first big shark movie to terrify audiences. Starring Samuel L. Jackson, Saffron Burrows, LL Cool J (“In the House”), Thomas Jane (“The Thin Red Line”) and Michael Rapaport (“Cop Land”), the thriller grossed over $73 million.
Fans of the beasties wanted more. Deep Blue Sea 2 debuted in July 2018 and was released direct-to-video.
Today, Deep Blue Sea 3 is available to watch, so dive in for the deadliest, bloodiest return to the deep blue sea yet.
https://www.warnerbros.com/movies/deep-blue-sea-3
Welcome to Little Happy, a tiny man-made island in the Mozambique Channel that’s home to a flourishing nursery of marine life, where Great Whites come to mate and give birth every year. This peaceful conservatory is overseen by Emma Collins and her team of environmentalists, determined to continue her late father’s legacy. This idyllic...
Fans of the beasties wanted more. Deep Blue Sea 2 debuted in July 2018 and was released direct-to-video.
Today, Deep Blue Sea 3 is available to watch, so dive in for the deadliest, bloodiest return to the deep blue sea yet.
https://www.warnerbros.com/movies/deep-blue-sea-3
Welcome to Little Happy, a tiny man-made island in the Mozambique Channel that’s home to a flourishing nursery of marine life, where Great Whites come to mate and give birth every year. This peaceful conservatory is overseen by Emma Collins and her team of environmentalists, determined to continue her late father’s legacy. This idyllic...
- 7/28/2020
- by Michelle Hannett
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
“Rambo” is coming to Bollywood. Filmmaker Siddharth Anand is teaming up with Indian actor and martial arts expert Tiger Shroff for a official remake. “Rambo” is scheduled to begin shooting in February 2018 and be released later that year. Anand and Shroff are officially announcing the project next week at the Cannes Film Festival.
Read More: Cannes: 10 Indian Filmmakers That Should Be on the Festival’s Radar
The action film will follow the last surviving member of an elite covert unit of the Indian Armed forces who returns home to discover a war waging in his own land. Forced into the dangerous jungles and frozen mountains of the Himalayas, he unleashes mayhem and destruction, becoming the unstoppable machine he was trained to be.
M! Capital Ventures, Original Entertainment, Impact Films and Siddharth Anand Pictures will co-produce the film. Original Entertainment closed a five-picture deal with Millennium Films in 2013 for Bollywood remakes of “Rambo,...
Read More: Cannes: 10 Indian Filmmakers That Should Be on the Festival’s Radar
The action film will follow the last surviving member of an elite covert unit of the Indian Armed forces who returns home to discover a war waging in his own land. Forced into the dangerous jungles and frozen mountains of the Himalayas, he unleashes mayhem and destruction, becoming the unstoppable machine he was trained to be.
M! Capital Ventures, Original Entertainment, Impact Films and Siddharth Anand Pictures will co-produce the film. Original Entertainment closed a five-picture deal with Millennium Films in 2013 for Bollywood remakes of “Rambo,...
- 5/20/2017
- by Graham Winfrey
- Indiewire
Many weird-world genre bending millennial epics have already dated badly, but not Richard Kelly’s sci-fi / horror / satirical mind-trip about a guy given a glimpse of time travel in another dimension. The wit hasn’t faded and the menace hasn’t cooled, and the cast seems hipper than ever: Jake Gyllenhaal, Jena Malone, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Mary McDonnell, Patrick Swayze, Noah Wyle, Drew Barrymore, Katharine Ross. Two versions, two formats, no waiting.
Donnie Darko
Blu-ray + DVD
Arrow Video USA
2001 / Color / 2:35 widescreen / 113, 133 min. / Street Date April 18, 2017 / ( 4-Disc Limited Edition) / Available from Arrow Video 49.95
Starring: Jake Gyllenhaal, Holmes Osborne, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Mary McDonnell, Patrick Swayze, Jena Malone, Noah Wyle, Drew Barrymore, Katharine Ross.
Cinematography: Steven Poster
Production Design: Alexander Hammond
Film Editors: Sam Bauer, Eric Strand
Original Music: Michael Andrews
Produced by Adam Fields, Nancy Juvonen, Sean McKittrick
Written and Directed by Richard Kelly
When high school kids get into creative writing...
Donnie Darko
Blu-ray + DVD
Arrow Video USA
2001 / Color / 2:35 widescreen / 113, 133 min. / Street Date April 18, 2017 / ( 4-Disc Limited Edition) / Available from Arrow Video 49.95
Starring: Jake Gyllenhaal, Holmes Osborne, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Mary McDonnell, Patrick Swayze, Jena Malone, Noah Wyle, Drew Barrymore, Katharine Ross.
Cinematography: Steven Poster
Production Design: Alexander Hammond
Film Editors: Sam Bauer, Eric Strand
Original Music: Michael Andrews
Produced by Adam Fields, Nancy Juvonen, Sean McKittrick
Written and Directed by Richard Kelly
When high school kids get into creative writing...
- 4/25/2017
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
April 18th looks to be another fun day of home entertainment releases for genre fans, as we have an excellent variety of films—both old and new—coming home to Blu-ray and DVD. M. Night Shyamalan’s psychological thriller Split makes its way to both formats on Tuesday courtesy of Universal Studios Home Entertainment, and Arrow Video is keeping busy with a trio of Blu-rays: The Night Evelyn Came Out of the Grave, The Red Queen Kills Seven Times, and their four-disc set celebrating Richard Kelly’s Donnie Darko.
Other notable releases for April 18th include Scream Factory’s stellar collector’s edition of Tales From the Hood, Contamination .7, The Handmaid’s Tale, and The Mephisto Waltz from Kino Lorber.
Donnie Darko: 4-Disc Limited Edition Set (Arrow Video, Blu-ray)
Fifteen years before Stranger Things, Richard Kelly set the template and the high-water mark with his debut feature, Donnie Darko.
Other notable releases for April 18th include Scream Factory’s stellar collector’s edition of Tales From the Hood, Contamination .7, The Handmaid’s Tale, and The Mephisto Waltz from Kino Lorber.
Donnie Darko: 4-Disc Limited Edition Set (Arrow Video, Blu-ray)
Fifteen years before Stranger Things, Richard Kelly set the template and the high-water mark with his debut feature, Donnie Darko.
- 4/18/2017
- by Heather Wixson
- DailyDead
Arrow Video isn't playing any April Fools' Day joke on horror and thriller fans with their Blu-ray releases for next month, which include the respective House: Two Stories (previously scheduled for a March 21st release) and Donnie Darko box sets, Wolf Guy, Caltiki the Immortal Monster, and more.
Press Release: Mvd Entertainment Group furthers the distribution of Arrow Video in the Us with several titles for April 2017. On April 18th comes The Night Evelyn Came Out Of The Grave (Blu-ray and DVD) and The Red Queen Kills Seven Times (Blu-ray and DVD), two giallo chillers from director Emilio P. Miraglia which were previously only available in the limited edition box set entitled Killer Dames. Miraglian blends the grisly whodunnit of the giallo with gothic and supernatural elements to create some truly unique chills in tales of revenge from beyond the grave and killer curses.
One of Emilio P. Miraglia's supernatural,...
Press Release: Mvd Entertainment Group furthers the distribution of Arrow Video in the Us with several titles for April 2017. On April 18th comes The Night Evelyn Came Out Of The Grave (Blu-ray and DVD) and The Red Queen Kills Seven Times (Blu-ray and DVD), two giallo chillers from director Emilio P. Miraglia which were previously only available in the limited edition box set entitled Killer Dames. Miraglian blends the grisly whodunnit of the giallo with gothic and supernatural elements to create some truly unique chills in tales of revenge from beyond the grave and killer curses.
One of Emilio P. Miraglia's supernatural,...
- 3/7/2017
- by Derek Anderson
- DailyDead
‘Donnie Darko’ to Receive 4K Blu-ray Restoration, Potentially Revealing the Mysteries of Time Travel
“Donnie Darko” fans from across the pond are in for a treat: Richard Kelly’s cult classic is getting a 4K restoration in time for Christmas. The upcoming Blu-ray release was just announced on Twitter by Kelly, who clarified that both the theatrical and director’s cut will be included along with a bevy of special features. Arrow Films is handling the release, which unfortunately is region-locked — making this another reason to consider an all region-player.
Read More: Watch: #Tbt ‘Donnie Darko’ is More Halloween than ‘Halloween’
“Donnie Darko” remains a favorite among vocal enthusiasts 15 years later, its mix of time travel and other sci-fi tropes making for an odd complement to the coming-of-age narrative led by Jake Gyllenhaal in the title role. Full list of features below.
Read More: Lessons From Legendary ‘Donnie Darko’ Cinematographer
• Brand new 4K restorations of both the Theatrical Cut and the Director’s Cut...
Read More: Watch: #Tbt ‘Donnie Darko’ is More Halloween than ‘Halloween’
“Donnie Darko” remains a favorite among vocal enthusiasts 15 years later, its mix of time travel and other sci-fi tropes making for an odd complement to the coming-of-age narrative led by Jake Gyllenhaal in the title role. Full list of features below.
Read More: Lessons From Legendary ‘Donnie Darko’ Cinematographer
• Brand new 4K restorations of both the Theatrical Cut and the Director’s Cut...
- 9/20/2016
- by Michael Nordine
- Indiewire
Arrow Video has announced their December release slate, including several Blu-rays that horror fans will want to pencil in on their holiday wish lists.
Arrow Video announced that they will release Creepshow 2 on both a limited edition and standard edition Blu-ray with a 2K restoration of the original film elements.
Other December Blu-ray releases include a Us/UK Blu-ray and DVD release of 2001's Pulse, aka Kairo, as well as UK Blu-ray releases of Donnie Darko, The Guyver, Cohen & Tate, The Burning, Hell Comes to Frogtown, and Hellgate. Below, we have official details and cover art images of all the aforementioned releases. Are you planning on adding these films to your home media collection?
From Arrow Video: "New Us Title Announcement: Creepshow 2 Limited Edition Blu-ray + Standard Blu-ray
One of the greatest horror anthologies of all time.
Unleashed December 13th. North American Blu-ray pre-order link should be live soon!
Arrow Video announced that they will release Creepshow 2 on both a limited edition and standard edition Blu-ray with a 2K restoration of the original film elements.
Other December Blu-ray releases include a Us/UK Blu-ray and DVD release of 2001's Pulse, aka Kairo, as well as UK Blu-ray releases of Donnie Darko, The Guyver, Cohen & Tate, The Burning, Hell Comes to Frogtown, and Hellgate. Below, we have official details and cover art images of all the aforementioned releases. Are you planning on adding these films to your home media collection?
From Arrow Video: "New Us Title Announcement: Creepshow 2 Limited Edition Blu-ray + Standard Blu-ray
One of the greatest horror anthologies of all time.
Unleashed December 13th. North American Blu-ray pre-order link should be live soon!
- 9/9/2016
- by Derek Anderson
- DailyDead
According to French site Allocine a movie adaptation of the landmark computer game Myst is currently in the works. Programmed by Cyan Worlds in 1993 and released on CD-rom to start with; Myst provided the basis for ambient fantasy world mysteries enjoyed by stoned students and non-drug taking fans alike.
Indeed, games such as Myst provided technological leaps in computer programming by creating large, seemingly endless worlds filled with puzzles and grand narratives to keep you occupied for bloody hours!
Word on the street, grapevine, internet, reports, etc, is producers Hunt Lowry and Mark Johnson are negotiating the rights to adapt the material with Mysteria Film Group and production outfits Roserock Films and Gran Via Productions. Adrian Vanderbosch of Mysteria Film Group described the shape and ideas the film will take:
“Our aim with this project is to stretch the genres it operates within, much like the source material did. It...
Indeed, games such as Myst provided technological leaps in computer programming by creating large, seemingly endless worlds filled with puzzles and grand narratives to keep you occupied for bloody hours!
Word on the street, grapevine, internet, reports, etc, is producers Hunt Lowry and Mark Johnson are negotiating the rights to adapt the material with Mysteria Film Group and production outfits Roserock Films and Gran Via Productions. Adrian Vanderbosch of Mysteria Film Group described the shape and ideas the film will take:
“Our aim with this project is to stretch the genres it operates within, much like the source material did. It...
- 10/4/2010
- by Martyn Conterio
- FilmShaft.com
The computer game and fantasy franchise Myst has been optioned by producers Hunt Lowry (Donnie Darko) and Mark Johnson (The Chronicles of Narnia: Voyage of the Dawn Treader) to become a live-action feature film.
The trick will be turning the expansive first-person series into a linear plot since the games allowed the player to make their own decisions within the rich mythology. Secret clues were uncovered by completing puzzles throughout the mysterious island that unlocked the game’s progression. According to Deadline, the film will focus on “the influence of a human who entered Myst and inadvertently brought down the civilization.”
“Our aim with this project is to stretch the genres it operated within, much like the source material did,” said Vanderbosch, one of the producers that acquired the rights from developers Cyan Worlds circa 2006. ”It is such an innovative property and by utilizing the novels as our primary resource,...
The trick will be turning the expansive first-person series into a linear plot since the games allowed the player to make their own decisions within the rich mythology. Secret clues were uncovered by completing puzzles throughout the mysterious island that unlocked the game’s progression. According to Deadline, the film will focus on “the influence of a human who entered Myst and inadvertently brought down the civilization.”
“Our aim with this project is to stretch the genres it operated within, much like the source material did,” said Vanderbosch, one of the producers that acquired the rights from developers Cyan Worlds circa 2006. ”It is such an innovative property and by utilizing the novels as our primary resource,...
- 10/2/2010
- by Jeff Leins
- newsinfilm.com
News from Deadline is that Producers Hunt Lowry and Mark Johnson are working with Adrian Vanderbosch and Isaac Testerman of Mysteria Film Group, who previously purchased the rights from the developers, Cyan Worlds, to bring Myst to the big screen.
Myst hit the computer gaming market in 1993 and went on to produce four top-selling sequels and become the biggest selling adventure game in history. While Myst does not have a simple linear narrative, it does have a very rich and multi-layered mythology. Johnson, who is known for his work on The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, is looking to breath a similar breathe into the Myst world.
The film will focus on a human (the Stranger) who enters Myst and inadvertently brings down the civilization. Producers Johnson and Vanderbosch are on the hunt for a writer before they approach any studios. “Our aim with this project...
Myst hit the computer gaming market in 1993 and went on to produce four top-selling sequels and become the biggest selling adventure game in history. While Myst does not have a simple linear narrative, it does have a very rich and multi-layered mythology. Johnson, who is known for his work on The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, is looking to breath a similar breathe into the Myst world.
The film will focus on a human (the Stranger) who enters Myst and inadvertently brings down the civilization. Producers Johnson and Vanderbosch are on the hunt for a writer before they approach any studios. “Our aim with this project...
- 10/1/2010
- by Joshua Blackburn
- The Film Stage
It's announcements like this that make you sit up and wonder why it hasn't already been done because it just makes so much sense.Producers Mark Johnson (The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader) and Hunt Lowry (What A Girl Wants) are teaming with Mysteria Film Group's Isaac Testerman and Adrian Vanderbosch to create a live-action feature adaptation of the video game Myst.Myst is a first person point-and-click game that takes the player on a journey for clues. The player must solve puzzles, remember things, and unlock one area/location to get to another. Four...
- 9/30/2010
- by Danny Cox, New Orleans Movie Examiner
- Examiner Movies Channel
Hey, it can’t be any worst than anything Uwe Boll has done, right? Hopefully. Word from the magical world of Hollywood is that producers Hunt Lowry and Mark Johnson have partnered with Adrian Vanderbosch and Isaac Testerman of Mysteria Film Group to bring the best-selling videogame Myst to the big screen. So what can you expect from Myst the movie? Deadline has some potential ideas: The filmmakers will draw the plot from the mythology within the games, as well as a trilogy of companion novels Cyan Worlds published around them. Players enter a highly atmospheric world and solve a series of puzzles that unlock secrets to this mysterious world. Players can liberate characters trapped inside of books, but have to decide which ones are good and evil. The goal of players was to return to Myst Island and rescue its owner from his imprisonment inside one of the books.
- 9/30/2010
- by Nix
- Beyond Hollywood
If you never thought that "Myst" contained enough material to build a feature-length film from, you obviously never read "The Book of Atrus," "The Book of Ti'ana" or "The Book of D'ni." Those companion novels will fill in some gaps as the film adaptation's production team moves ahead with their fantasy/puzzle/adventure game-derived project. Producers Hunt Lowry of "Donnie Darko" and Mark Johnson from the recent "The Chronicles of Narnia" films have agreed to partner with the "Myst" film rights owners at the Mysteria Film Group to get the movie on its feet.
"Our aim with this project is to stretch the genres it operated within, much like the source material did," Mysteria Film Group partner Adrian Vanderbosch explained, according to a Deadline report. "It is such an innovative property and by utilizing the novels as our primary resource, we have the opportunity to offer audiences the essence of...
"Our aim with this project is to stretch the genres it operated within, much like the source material did," Mysteria Film Group partner Adrian Vanderbosch explained, according to a Deadline report. "It is such an innovative property and by utilizing the novels as our primary resource, we have the opportunity to offer audiences the essence of...
- 9/30/2010
- by Brian Warmoth
- MTV Multiplayer
Myst, the top selling computer adventure game franchise of all-time, wouldn't seem to be a likely candidate for a film adaptation. As popular as it is, the format of the games—a non-linear narrative requiring you to explore and progress through mysterious environments by pointing-and-clicking—doesn't conveniently lend itself to the film medium. But has that ever stopped anyone in Hollywood before? Partnered with producers Hunt Lowry (Duma, The Last of the Mohicans) and Mark Johnson (Don't Be Afraid of the Dark, The Chronicles of Narnia), Mysteria Film Group has optioned the rights for Myst for a live-action film. Learn more after the break. Deadline reports that the film will partially focus on "the influence of a human who entered Myst and inadvertently brought down the civilization", while also drawing on the plot from the mythology that's been built up over the course of the games. Easing the burden of...
- 9/30/2010
- by Adam Quigley
- Slash Film
Do you remember Myst? If you were playing computer games back in the first part of the 1990s then this strategy/adventure PC game was the talk of every gamer magazine. It was the original Lost: you awaken on a strange island filled with unusual technology and danger and must piece together the puzzle of who made the things surrounding you. It didn't end the way Lost did.
Three sequels followed and the brother creators of the game, Cyan Worlds, became rich, but never went on to publish any other games. Now movie producers Mark Johnson, Hunt Lowry, Adrian Vanderbosch and Isaac Testerman are trying to rejuvinate Myst's shelf life by making a live-action movie based on the game.
"Our aim with this project is to stretch the genres it operated within, much like the source material did," Vanderbosch told the Deadline website. "It is such an innovative property and...
Three sequels followed and the brother creators of the game, Cyan Worlds, became rich, but never went on to publish any other games. Now movie producers Mark Johnson, Hunt Lowry, Adrian Vanderbosch and Isaac Testerman are trying to rejuvinate Myst's shelf life by making a live-action movie based on the game.
"Our aim with this project is to stretch the genres it operated within, much like the source material did," Vanderbosch told the Deadline website. "It is such an innovative property and...
- 9/30/2010
- by Patrick Sauriol
- Corona's Coming Attractions
Ah, many a day was spent playing this intense PC game on a mystical island. Life seemed so much easier back then, where my Coca-Cola addiction was brewing along with a long pursuit to crack this game wide open. Deadline Reports that Myst, the all-time top selling computer adventure game franchise, has finally been optioned for live action film treatment. Producers Hunt Lowry and Mark Johnson have partnered with Adrian Vanderbosch and Isaac Testerman of Mysteria Film Group.
The site also reports the singular problem with a Myst film that we were going to point out.
“Myst became popular for the atmospheric experience it provided, but it isn’t as easily adaptable as some vidgames because it doesn’t have a simple linear narrative.”
However, it does have a strong mythology that creates possibilities to tell a story. I mean, if someone can turn Battleship into a story or Candyland into a movie,...
The site also reports the singular problem with a Myst film that we were going to point out.
“Myst became popular for the atmospheric experience it provided, but it isn’t as easily adaptable as some vidgames because it doesn’t have a simple linear narrative.”
However, it does have a strong mythology that creates possibilities to tell a story. I mean, if someone can turn Battleship into a story or Candyland into a movie,...
- 9/30/2010
- by Kevin Coll
- FusedFilm
A live action film treatment is being planned for Myst. The game, developed by Cyan Worlds, spawned four sequels and the entire series has sold over five hundred million units and continues to be the biggest selling adventure game ever. Adrian Vanderbosch and Isaac Testerman of Mysteria Film Group acquired the rights from Cyan Worlds. They are partnering with producers Hunt Lowry and Mark Johnson. They are actively looking for a writer at this point before shopping it to a studio. "Our aim with this project is to stretch the genres it operated within, much like the source material did," Vanderbosch said. "It is such an innovative property and by utilizing the novels as our primary resource, we have the opportunity to offer audiences the essence of Myst without being limited only to...
- 9/30/2010
- by Bryan Kritz
- The Daily BLAM!
"Myst," the biggest selling adventure game ever, has been optioned for film treatment. Producers Hunt Lowry and Mark Johnson have partnered with Adrian Vanderbosch and Mysteria Film Group's Isaac Testerman. According to Deadline, one focus of the film will be the influence of a human who entered Myst and inadvertently brought down the civilization. I played "Myst" a lot when I was younger although, I didn't have time to explore "Riven" as much as I would have wanted...
- 9/30/2010
- Upcoming-Movies.com
I will never forget the months of my youth that I spent, often frustrated, scouring the mysterious island from Myst. I knew, even back then, that they would one day turn it into a movie, I just didn't think it would take 17+ years. Deadline reports that producers Hunt Lowry (A Time to Kill, Cypher) and Mark Johnson (Don't Be Afraid of the Dark, Chronicles of Narnia) have partnered with Adrian Vanderbosch and Isaac Testerman of Mysteria Film to acquire the rights to the Myst series from Cyan Worlds to develop into a live-action feature. After hitting shelves in 1993, Myst has gone on to become the biggest selling adventure game ever. The producers haven't even hired a writer for the adaptation yet, but are actively looking for one to develop the project. They're hope, oddly enough (you will see why), is to establish a distinctive world from the Myst mythology ...
- 9/30/2010
- by Alex Billington
- firstshowing.net
Exclusive: Myst, the all-time top selling computer adventure game franchise, has been optioned for live action film treatment. Producers Hunt Lowry and Mark Johnson have partnered with Adrian Vanderbosch and Isaac Testerman of Mysteria Film Group. Mysteria got the rights from game developers Cyan Worlds. Myst debuted in 1993 and expanded with four top-selling sequels. It established a market for multi-platform CD-rom gaming and continues to be the biggest selling adventure game ever. Trouble is, Myst became popular for the atmospheric experience it provided, but it isn't as easily adaptable as some vidgames because it doesn't have a simple linear narrative. It does have a strong mythology that creates possibilities, though. Johnson is the producer of the upcoming The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, and the hope is to bring the distinctive world of Myst as was done with Narnia. One focus of the film will be...
- 9/30/2010
- by MIKE FLEMING
- Deadline
John Grisham has made a deal to bring his 1999 bestselling novel "The Testament" to the big screen. Producers Mark Johnson and Hunt Lowry have teamed with 821 Entertainment Group to option the book.In the novel, a billionaire defies his greedy relatives and leaves his $11 billion fortune to a mysterious illegitimate daughter doing charity work in the Brazilian wetlands. A down-and-out lawyer helps her battle her relatives over the fortune.Johnson has been trying to bring the book to the screen since it was first published. Grisham hasn.t been interested, but things changed when Johnson joined forces with Grisham.s old friend Lowry, who previously produced the big-screen version of the author.s .A Time to Kill. in 1996.According to The Moving...
- 6/23/2009
- by Adnan Tezer
- Monsters and Critics
Now a decade after John Grisham’s novel “The Testament” first landed in bookstores, the bestselling author has decided that it is time for the book to join his other titles like “The Associate,” “A Time to Kill,” and “The Rainmaker” in Hollywood. The best-selling author, who reportedly held out for creative control over the film, seems to have found a deal he liked enough to option the book to producers Mark Johnson and Hunt Lowry, and 821 Entertainment.
“I’ve been calling [Grisham and his agent] since I read ["The Testament"] the first time and felt it had the best of the courthouse stuff that John writes so well, plus this exotic adventure in deepest Brazil,” Johnson told Variety.
Grisham’s story follows an $11 billion fortune left to a businessman’s illegitimate daughter in Brazil. The writer’s trademark courtroom drama enters the fray when an struggling lawyer steps up to help her defend her inheritance...
“I’ve been calling [Grisham and his agent] since I read ["The Testament"] the first time and felt it had the best of the courthouse stuff that John writes so well, plus this exotic adventure in deepest Brazil,” Johnson told Variety.
Grisham’s story follows an $11 billion fortune left to a businessman’s illegitimate daughter in Brazil. The writer’s trademark courtroom drama enters the fray when an struggling lawyer steps up to help her defend her inheritance...
- 6/23/2009
- by Brian Warmoth
- MTV Movies Blog
After a decade of saying no, John Grisham has made a movie deal for his 1999 bestselling novel "The Testament," reports Variety . Producers Mark Johnson and Hunt Lowry are teaming with 821 Entertainment Group to option the book, with 821's Eric Geadelmann and Ben Horton taking executive producer credit. In the novel, a billionaire defies his greedy relatives and leaves his $11 billion fortune to a mysterious illegitimate daughter doing charity work in the Brazilian wetlands. A down-and-out lawyer helps her battle her relatives over the fortune. "The Testament" becomes one of several Grisham legal thrillers headed for the screen. An adaptation of Grisham's nonfiction novel "The Innocent Man: Murder and Injustice in a Small Town" moved from defunct...
- 6/23/2009
- Comingsoon.net
John Grisham has reportedly agreed for his novel The Testament to be adapted for the big screen. The author, who has sold more than 250 million books worldwide, is understood to have signed an option deal with 821 Entertainment and producers Mark Johnson and Hunt Lowry. "I've been calling him since I read it the first time," Johnson told Variety. "I felt it (more)...
- 6/23/2009
- by By Lara Martin
- Digital Spy
Apparently, John Grisham waited for 10 years before saying yes to the big screen adaptation of his 1999 novel "The Testament."
Hunt Lowry, producer of the film "A Time to Kill," Grisham's first novel, is working with Mark Johnson and 821 Entertainment Group to option the book.
"The Testament" tells the tale of a billionaire who leaves his money to an illegitimate daughter. A down-and-out lawyer helps her fight the billionaire's money-hungry relatives.
Grisham will be able to give creative input, so this adaptation will be true to the author's vision. He was put-off by Hollywood before, that's why he created his self-imposed movie moratorium.
But all that is over. Grisham is ready to embrace Hollywood again.
Some of the author's works being turned into movies are:
"The Innocent Man: Murder and Injustice in a Small Town" -- I love this book! I read this in one sitting! And it's a nonfiction account!
Hunt Lowry, producer of the film "A Time to Kill," Grisham's first novel, is working with Mark Johnson and 821 Entertainment Group to option the book.
"The Testament" tells the tale of a billionaire who leaves his money to an illegitimate daughter. A down-and-out lawyer helps her fight the billionaire's money-hungry relatives.
Grisham will be able to give creative input, so this adaptation will be true to the author's vision. He was put-off by Hollywood before, that's why he created his self-imposed movie moratorium.
But all that is over. Grisham is ready to embrace Hollywood again.
Some of the author's works being turned into movies are:
"The Innocent Man: Murder and Injustice in a Small Town" -- I love this book! I read this in one sitting! And it's a nonfiction account!
- 6/23/2009
- by Manny
- Manny the Movie Guy
John Grisham has made a deal to bring his 1999 bestselling novel The Testament to the big screen, report the trades. Producers Mark Johnson (Shooter) and Hunt Lowry (Shorts, Donnie Darko) have teamed with 821 Entertainment Group to option the book. In the novel, a billionaire defies his greedy relatives and leaves his $11 billion fortune to a mysterious illegitimate daughter doing charity work in the Brazilian wetlands. A down-and-out lawyer helps her battle her relatives over the fortune. Producer Johnson has been trying to bring the book to the screen since it was first published. Grisham hasn’t been interested, but things changed when Johnson joined forces with Grisham's old friend Lowry, who previously produced the author’s A Time to Kill in 1996. The deal will also give Grisham the right to provide creative input, something he hasn’t always had in the past and one of the factors that has pushed...
- 6/23/2009
- by James Cook
- TheMovingPicture.net
Movie Jungle has the trailer for Warner Bros. Pictures' "Shorts," starring Jon Cryer, William H. Macy, Leslie Mann, James Spader, Jimmy Bennett, Kat Dennings, Trevor Gagnon, Leo Howard, Devon Gearhart, Rebel Rodriguez, Jake Short and Jolie Vanier. Robert Rodriguez directs from his own screenplay as producing alongside Elizabeth Avellan, Dan Lin, Hunt Lowry, Mohammed Khalaf and Edward Borgerding. The film is rated PG for mild action and some rude humor. “Shorts” is set in the suburb of Black Falls, where all the houses look the same and everyone works for Black Box Unlimited Worldwide Industries Incorporated, whose Mr. Black’s Black Box is the ultimate communication and do-it-all gadget that’s sweeping the nation. Other than keeping his parents employed, however...
- 6/9/2009
- Upcoming-Movies.com
Movie Jungle has the trailer for Warner Bros. Pictures' "Shorts," starring Jon Cryer, William H. Macy, Leslie Mann, James Spader, Jimmy Bennett, Kat Dennings, Trevor Gagnon, Leo Howard, Devon Gearhart, Rebel Rodriguez, Jake Short and Jolie Vanier. Robert Rodriguez directs from his own screenplay as producing alongside Elizabeth Avellan, Dan Lin, Hunt Lowry, Mohammed Khalaf and Edward Borgerding. The film is rated PG for mild action and some rude humor. “Shorts” is set in the suburb of Black Falls, where all the houses look the same and everyone works for Black Box Unlimited Worldwide Industries Incorporated, whose Mr. Black’s Black Box is the ultimate communication and do-it-all gadget that’s sweeping the nation. Other than keeping his parents employed, however...
- 6/9/2009
- Upcoming-Movies.com
Hey, remember that movie that played constantly on Comedy Central about a decade ago? No, not Half-Baked, National Lampoon’s Vacation, or Ferris Bueller’s Day Off. That’s right. Top Secret! is now re-released on a special "I Love the 80s" Edition of the DVD.
The brain-child of Jim Abrahams, David Zucker, and Jerry Zucker, the people behind Airplane! and The Naked Gun, Top Secret! is a double-header parody of both Elvis movies and war movies, featuring American rock and roll star Nick Rivers (Val Kilmer in his first movie) traveling to East Germany to give a concert. Through a series of unfortunate events, he gets caught up with Hillary Flammond (Lucy Gutteridge), a member of the East German resistance, who is trying to break her father (Michael Gough) out of prison with the help of her comrades. As the film-makers wholeheartedly admit themselves, that’s about as far as the plot goes.
The brain-child of Jim Abrahams, David Zucker, and Jerry Zucker, the people behind Airplane! and The Naked Gun, Top Secret! is a double-header parody of both Elvis movies and war movies, featuring American rock and roll star Nick Rivers (Val Kilmer in his first movie) traveling to East Germany to give a concert. Through a series of unfortunate events, he gets caught up with Hillary Flammond (Lucy Gutteridge), a member of the East German resistance, who is trying to break her father (Michael Gough) out of prison with the help of her comrades. As the film-makers wholeheartedly admit themselves, that’s about as far as the plot goes.
- 1/28/2009
- by Anders Nelson
- JustPressPlay.net
NEW YORK -- Warner Bros. has swept up three high-profile Media Rights Capital-produced features for distribution in a mid-eight-figure deal: Richard Kelly's horror film The Box starring Cameron Diaz, James Marsden and Frank Langella; Robert Rodriguez's family fantasy Shorts; and Ricky Gervais and Matthew Robinson's comedy This Side of the Truth, starring the director with Jennifer Garner in negotiations to co-star.
The deal also will infuse cash into each project's budget. Warner Bros. is partnering with Ted Field's Radar Pictures to co-finance Box, and its unnamed production outfit (formed with the Abu Dhabi Media Co. and Hunt Lowry) will co-finance Shorts, adding to MRC's initial investment.
The studio will handle worldwide distribution on Shorts and domestic distribution on Box and Truth. The acquisitions have been in the works for several months. One factor in the deal's slow gestation was that it came along as Warners president and COO Alan Horn was reorganizing the company's motion picture group and promoting production head Jeff Robinov to president of the newly formed Warner Bros. Picture Group last month.
The deal also will infuse cash into each project's budget. Warner Bros. is partnering with Ted Field's Radar Pictures to co-finance Box, and its unnamed production outfit (formed with the Abu Dhabi Media Co. and Hunt Lowry) will co-finance Shorts, adding to MRC's initial investment.
The studio will handle worldwide distribution on Shorts and domestic distribution on Box and Truth. The acquisitions have been in the works for several months. One factor in the deal's slow gestation was that it came along as Warners president and COO Alan Horn was reorganizing the company's motion picture group and promoting production head Jeff Robinov to president of the newly formed Warner Bros. Picture Group last month.
- 12/6/2007
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Read about how Wall Street funds the indies
Fourteen months ago, Mark Gill was in Cambridge, Mass., as keynote speaker at the Harvard Business School's annual conference on media and entertainment. He struck up a conversation with another guest, Yael Taqqu, a partner in McKinsey & Co.'s global media and entertainment practice.
Taqqu suggested that Gill call her if he ever went out on his own. "What do you know", Gill reflected wryly, "a month later, I did."
That was the beginning of a yearlong odyssey for the specialty movies executive as he exited his post as president of Warner Independent Pictures and sought to raise money for a new production and worldwide sales company, the Film Department. And it led him directly to Sheikh Waleed al Ibrahim of Dubai.
Today, Sheikh Waleed is one of the key backers of Gill's company, investing millions of dollars in the venture. (Gill declined to say precisely how much.) In plunging into filmmaking, the media magnate, who also is chairman of powerhouse network MBC (Middle East Broadcasting Center), is one of a number of foreign individuals and companies who are dipping their toes into independent American film.
"We used to see foreign money coming from (tax-driven funds) like Ingenious that would make investments in studio pictures; and, of course, we would see German tax money make investments, but aside from that, not much -- maybe a few investments from high-net-worth individuals from time to time," said John Burke, an attorney with Akin Gump who specializes in film finance. "What we have seen in the last six months or a year is an increased interest by the European institutional community -- the hedge and equity funds and investment banks -- and an increasing amount of attention from the Middle East, meaning places like Dubai and Abu Dhabi, Saudi Arabia, Jordan -- any place where there are significant amounts of wealth."
Among recent developments:
Producer Hunt Lowry has been negotiating with investors in Abu Dhabi to finance a whole slate of studio-budget films.
Harvey Weinstein went to China this year as one step in an ongoing attempt to raise $285 million to make Asian-themed movies that will be released through the Weinstein Co. in a deal that Goldman Sachs is putting together. (Reps for the Weinstein Co. declined comment.)
Wild Bunch, a major French production and distribution company, has invested in such independent films as Steven Soderbergh's upcoming pair of feature projects about Che Guevara and three Woody Allen movies. It also has signed a first-look deal with former Miramax staffer Agnes Mentre to find U.S. projects in which it can invest.
Double Edge Entertainment has accessed Taiwanese and Chinese money through its principals, Nina Yang and Bobby Sheng, who have invested in such films as director Vince Di Meglio's upcoming Dax Shepard-Mike White starrer "Smother" and 2004's "Mail Order Wife".
Producer Marina Grasic of Visitor Pictures has raised money from investment funds in Bahrain and Scandinavia to help finance four films (Miramax's planned 2007 release "Smart People", writer-director Rawson Marshall Thurber's upcoming "The Mysteries of Pittsburgh", Lionsgate's planned December release "The Return" and writer-director Baillie Walsh's upcoming "Flashbacks of a Fool".)
Bill Block, CEO of production and sales company QED International, is visiting Beijing this summer to meet with investors there. His company already has benefited from funding from U.K.-based Aramid Capital.
Russian billionaire Michel Litvak has funded several films, including 2006's "Bobby", through his Los Angeles-based company Bold Films. Other Russian billionaires investing in Hollywood include Len Blavatnik.
It would be wrong to overstate the level of this cash influx. Insiders put it at a total in the hundreds of millions, not billions.
"I spent a year of my life dealing with this and talked to people around the world," Gill said. "They all said the same thing: Here and there, there are little pockets of money, but most people (outside the U.S.) would prefer to invest in real estate or bonds or something more reliable than the movie business.
Fourteen months ago, Mark Gill was in Cambridge, Mass., as keynote speaker at the Harvard Business School's annual conference on media and entertainment. He struck up a conversation with another guest, Yael Taqqu, a partner in McKinsey & Co.'s global media and entertainment practice.
Taqqu suggested that Gill call her if he ever went out on his own. "What do you know", Gill reflected wryly, "a month later, I did."
That was the beginning of a yearlong odyssey for the specialty movies executive as he exited his post as president of Warner Independent Pictures and sought to raise money for a new production and worldwide sales company, the Film Department. And it led him directly to Sheikh Waleed al Ibrahim of Dubai.
Today, Sheikh Waleed is one of the key backers of Gill's company, investing millions of dollars in the venture. (Gill declined to say precisely how much.) In plunging into filmmaking, the media magnate, who also is chairman of powerhouse network MBC (Middle East Broadcasting Center), is one of a number of foreign individuals and companies who are dipping their toes into independent American film.
"We used to see foreign money coming from (tax-driven funds) like Ingenious that would make investments in studio pictures; and, of course, we would see German tax money make investments, but aside from that, not much -- maybe a few investments from high-net-worth individuals from time to time," said John Burke, an attorney with Akin Gump who specializes in film finance. "What we have seen in the last six months or a year is an increased interest by the European institutional community -- the hedge and equity funds and investment banks -- and an increasing amount of attention from the Middle East, meaning places like Dubai and Abu Dhabi, Saudi Arabia, Jordan -- any place where there are significant amounts of wealth."
Among recent developments:
Producer Hunt Lowry has been negotiating with investors in Abu Dhabi to finance a whole slate of studio-budget films.
Harvey Weinstein went to China this year as one step in an ongoing attempt to raise $285 million to make Asian-themed movies that will be released through the Weinstein Co. in a deal that Goldman Sachs is putting together. (Reps for the Weinstein Co. declined comment.)
Wild Bunch, a major French production and distribution company, has invested in such independent films as Steven Soderbergh's upcoming pair of feature projects about Che Guevara and three Woody Allen movies. It also has signed a first-look deal with former Miramax staffer Agnes Mentre to find U.S. projects in which it can invest.
Double Edge Entertainment has accessed Taiwanese and Chinese money through its principals, Nina Yang and Bobby Sheng, who have invested in such films as director Vince Di Meglio's upcoming Dax Shepard-Mike White starrer "Smother" and 2004's "Mail Order Wife".
Producer Marina Grasic of Visitor Pictures has raised money from investment funds in Bahrain and Scandinavia to help finance four films (Miramax's planned 2007 release "Smart People", writer-director Rawson Marshall Thurber's upcoming "The Mysteries of Pittsburgh", Lionsgate's planned December release "The Return" and writer-director Baillie Walsh's upcoming "Flashbacks of a Fool".)
Bill Block, CEO of production and sales company QED International, is visiting Beijing this summer to meet with investors there. His company already has benefited from funding from U.K.-based Aramid Capital.
Russian billionaire Michel Litvak has funded several films, including 2006's "Bobby", through his Los Angeles-based company Bold Films. Other Russian billionaires investing in Hollywood include Len Blavatnik.
It would be wrong to overstate the level of this cash influx. Insiders put it at a total in the hundreds of millions, not billions.
"I spent a year of my life dealing with this and talked to people around the world," Gill said. "They all said the same thing: Here and there, there are little pockets of money, but most people (outside the U.S.) would prefer to invest in real estate or bonds or something more reliable than the movie business.
Columbia Pictures has acquired Jonathan Davis' baseball comedy pitch Unsportsmanlike Conduct. Todd Garner is producing through his Broken Road Prods.' shingle. Described as in the same vein as The Bad News Bears but with adults, the story chronicles what happens when a major league expansion team hires a statistician to assess the league's best available players. But that numbers-only strategy leaves the team with all of the league's head cases. Hunt Lowry also is producing. Ben Haber will shepherd the project for Broken Road.
- 4/27/2006
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Working again in a movie subgenre of which he is the acknowledged master, Carroll Ballard has created in "Duma" another remarkable story of people and wild animals set against a rugged landscape. This time, his four-legged protagonist is a South African cheetah, a magnificent, swift cat, who co-stars with a young boy named Xan (Alexander Michaletos). The two face many dangers and obstacles in a demanding journey to return the animal to his native habitat.
As with all of Ballard's adventure stories, including "The Black Stallion", "Never Cry Wolf" and "Fly Away Home", the potential audience cuts across all age groups. The dangers our heroes confront are at times more terrifying than the PG rating might indicate, meaning the movie might frighten very young children; otherwise, one can't imagine a better movie for the whole family.
However, Warner Bros. apparently is not convinced. The distributor gave the film a three-city test run in April and will open the film Friday in Chicago. Those close to the film say that Warners is looking for strong reviews -- which it undoubtedly will receive -- to encourage further domestic distribution.
"Duma" is based on a book by Xan and Carol Cawthra Hopcraft about living with a domesticated cheetah. From this unpromising premise, screenwriters Karen Janszen and Mark St. Germain have fashioned a tale worthy of Jack London that sends boy and cheetah across a blazing desert, down a raging river and into mountains patrolled by hungry predators.
When Xan and his father (Campbell Scott) rescue an orphaned cheetah cub, they bring him back to the family farm, name him Duma -- Swahili for cheetah -- and raise him until he is almost fully grown. It is then that Dad informs a crestfallen Xan that they must return Duma to his home before his domestication causes him to lose the ability to survive in the wild.
The father's death puts this plan on hold as Xan's mother (Hope Davis) must lease the farm and move to Johannesburg for a job. That they bring Duma along to the city is a bit of a stretch. When Duma escapes the cramped apartment and pays a visit to Xan at his school, this triggers the boy's foolish decision to carry out his father's plan to return Duma to his real home.
The two set out without adequate supplies or water in the father's motorcycle, with Duma occupying the sidecar. When it runs out of gas, the two continue on foot in desert heat. They run into a mysterious tribesman named Rip (British actor Eamonn Walker), who seems to be fleeing something or someone. There is mutual distrust between the two humans -- and for good reason -- but Xan realizes it can only help to have an adult accompanying him and his cheetah through what Rip calls a "land with many teeth."
Unlike most children's films about wild animals, the dangers in "Duma" are real enough. Animals eat and get eaten. So along with scorching heat and river rapids, our heroes must face lions, crocodiles, swarming insects and poisonous snakes. In one highly dramatic sequence, a pride of lions circles the travelers at night as they frantically try to start a fire in the rain that will keep the lions at bay.
A newcomer to film, Michaletos grew up on a farm with cheetahs, so he can act natural around the animals while making this Huck Finn-like character more than credible. Veteran cheetah trainer Jules Sylvester turns the four animals that play Duma into a fully dimensional "character."
Ballard films in a daunting 75 locations ranging from the Entabeni Game Reserve to the Kalahari sands. These are awe-inspiring yet inhospitable-looking terrains, beautifully photographed by Werner Maritz, while designer Johnny Breedt and costumer Jayne Forbes give the journey plenty of realism.
DUMA
Warner Bros.
Warner Bros. in association with Gaylord Films presents a John Wells/Gaylord Films production
Credits:
Director: Carroll Ballard
Screenwriters: Karen Janszen, Mark St. Germain
Story by: Carol Flint, Karen Janszen
Based on the book by: Carol Cawthra Hopcraft, Xan Hopcraft
Producers: John Wells, Hunt Lowry, E.K. Gaylord II, Kristen Harms, Stacy Cohen
Executive producer: Doug Claybourne
Director of photography: Werner Maritz
Production designer: Johnny Breedt
Music: John Debney, George Acogny
Co-producers: David Wicht, Vlokkie Gordon
Costumes: Jayne Forbes
Editor: T.M. Christopher
Cast:
Xan: Alexander Michaletos
Rip: Eamonn Walker
Peter: Campbell Scott
Kristin: Hope Davis
Running time -- 101 minutes
MPAA rating PG...
As with all of Ballard's adventure stories, including "The Black Stallion", "Never Cry Wolf" and "Fly Away Home", the potential audience cuts across all age groups. The dangers our heroes confront are at times more terrifying than the PG rating might indicate, meaning the movie might frighten very young children; otherwise, one can't imagine a better movie for the whole family.
However, Warner Bros. apparently is not convinced. The distributor gave the film a three-city test run in April and will open the film Friday in Chicago. Those close to the film say that Warners is looking for strong reviews -- which it undoubtedly will receive -- to encourage further domestic distribution.
"Duma" is based on a book by Xan and Carol Cawthra Hopcraft about living with a domesticated cheetah. From this unpromising premise, screenwriters Karen Janszen and Mark St. Germain have fashioned a tale worthy of Jack London that sends boy and cheetah across a blazing desert, down a raging river and into mountains patrolled by hungry predators.
When Xan and his father (Campbell Scott) rescue an orphaned cheetah cub, they bring him back to the family farm, name him Duma -- Swahili for cheetah -- and raise him until he is almost fully grown. It is then that Dad informs a crestfallen Xan that they must return Duma to his home before his domestication causes him to lose the ability to survive in the wild.
The father's death puts this plan on hold as Xan's mother (Hope Davis) must lease the farm and move to Johannesburg for a job. That they bring Duma along to the city is a bit of a stretch. When Duma escapes the cramped apartment and pays a visit to Xan at his school, this triggers the boy's foolish decision to carry out his father's plan to return Duma to his real home.
The two set out without adequate supplies or water in the father's motorcycle, with Duma occupying the sidecar. When it runs out of gas, the two continue on foot in desert heat. They run into a mysterious tribesman named Rip (British actor Eamonn Walker), who seems to be fleeing something or someone. There is mutual distrust between the two humans -- and for good reason -- but Xan realizes it can only help to have an adult accompanying him and his cheetah through what Rip calls a "land with many teeth."
Unlike most children's films about wild animals, the dangers in "Duma" are real enough. Animals eat and get eaten. So along with scorching heat and river rapids, our heroes must face lions, crocodiles, swarming insects and poisonous snakes. In one highly dramatic sequence, a pride of lions circles the travelers at night as they frantically try to start a fire in the rain that will keep the lions at bay.
A newcomer to film, Michaletos grew up on a farm with cheetahs, so he can act natural around the animals while making this Huck Finn-like character more than credible. Veteran cheetah trainer Jules Sylvester turns the four animals that play Duma into a fully dimensional "character."
Ballard films in a daunting 75 locations ranging from the Entabeni Game Reserve to the Kalahari sands. These are awe-inspiring yet inhospitable-looking terrains, beautifully photographed by Werner Maritz, while designer Johnny Breedt and costumer Jayne Forbes give the journey plenty of realism.
DUMA
Warner Bros.
Warner Bros. in association with Gaylord Films presents a John Wells/Gaylord Films production
Credits:
Director: Carroll Ballard
Screenwriters: Karen Janszen, Mark St. Germain
Story by: Carol Flint, Karen Janszen
Based on the book by: Carol Cawthra Hopcraft, Xan Hopcraft
Producers: John Wells, Hunt Lowry, E.K. Gaylord II, Kristen Harms, Stacy Cohen
Executive producer: Doug Claybourne
Director of photography: Werner Maritz
Production designer: Johnny Breedt
Music: John Debney, George Acogny
Co-producers: David Wicht, Vlokkie Gordon
Costumes: Jayne Forbes
Editor: T.M. Christopher
Cast:
Xan: Alexander Michaletos
Rip: Eamonn Walker
Peter: Campbell Scott
Kristin: Hope Davis
Running time -- 101 minutes
MPAA rating PG...
- 8/25/2005
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Elisabeth Shue, who next appears in Gregg Araki's indie Mysterious Skin, has signed on to star in John Gatins' Dreamer for DreamWorks and Tollin/Robbins Prods. Shooting starts this month on the project, which Hyde Park recently boarded to co-finance. The film will follow the story of a Kentucky horse trainer and his daughter, who rescue a horse with a broken leg. The two then help nurse the animal back to health and take it to race in the Breeders' Cup. Shue will play the mother in the family. Kris Kristofferson and Freddy Rodriguez also star. Gatins wrote the script. Producers on the project include Tollin/Robbins partners Mike Tollin and Brian Robbins along with Hunt Lowry. Bill Johnson is executive producing along with Hyde Park's Ashok Armitraj and Jon Jashni. The project is being overseen by production executive David Beaubaire for production topper Adam Goodman. Shue will next be seen in the upcoming feature Hide and Seek. She is repped by CAA.
The magic is gone in this latest screen version of "Cinderella". From its uninspiring title -- and certain turnoff for young males -- to its limp slapstick and uneven acting, "A Cinderella Story" arrives with a dull thud. It doesn't help that this contemporary take on the classic fairy tale re-explores ground already covered this year by such movies as "Mean Girls" and "Ella Enchanted".
Thanks to popular young star Hilary Duff, the film might see a brisk boxoffice opening weekend. But word-of-mouth and more attractive options in the multiplexes should lead to a sharp drop-off by the second week.
Wicked stepmothers and Prince Charmings are awkward concepts in a contemporary setting. There is little evidence that writer Leigh Dunlap or her producers thought through how to re-imagine the fairy tale for modern day. Having Cinderella leave behind a cell phone instead of a glass slipper as the clock strikes midnight is not nearly enough.
First of all, the film never makes the case that our Cinderella, Valley high school senior Sam Montgomery (Duff), is truly abused. When her dear dad dies in the Northridge earthquake -- how exactly? we wonder -- her self-indulgent, plastic surgery-obsessed stepmom, Fiona (Jennifer Coolidge in an amusing but over-the-top performance), banishes Sam to the attic and puts her to work in her dad's '50s diner. The trouble is, designer Charles Breen turns that attic into a very cool-looking loft, Sam's paycheck goes to her college education and must we really feel sorry for a girl who complains that she has to drive a "beat-up old car"? The car runs, doesn't it?
Her high school is similarly disconnected from reality but not in the fairy tale sort of way. Not to put too fine a point on it, but Duff is a beauty, and costume designer Denise Wingate does nothing to make her seem otherwise. So why is Sam so unpopular with the boys? They mock her as "Diner Girl" -- what, no one else at school has a job? -- and her only male friend, geeky Carter (Dan Byrd), seems oblivious to her charms as well. Then she puts on a gown and mask and everyone is knocked out by her presence. Go figure.
Her dreamboat is popular football star Austin Ames Chad Michael Murray). He's a good-looking lad, but the script makes him into a boob. He's afraid of his dad, in a dead-end relationship with a shallow cheerleader (Julie Gonzalo), easily cowed by his buddies and unable or unwilling to pursue his Cinderella. They don't make Prince Charmings the way they used to.
Director Mark Rosman and Dunlap search for laughs in all the wrong places. Fiona's complete body makeover with implants, Botox, plastic surgery and a tanning machine earns a few laughs but gets old fast. The slapstick bumbling of Sam's "out-of-step-sisters," Brianna (Madeline Zima) and Gabriella (Andrea Avery), is thoroughly unfunny.
Duff and Byrd anchor the film in a perky though realistic acting style. But too many other actors resort to overblown shtick in a vain attempt to bring cartoonish characters to life. The diner sequences work the best: Regina King, Paul Rodriguez and others form a neat ensemble of characters who work hard, support one another and share a mutual contempt for the owner. Conversely, the sequences in high school or at home feel tired if not belabored.
Tech credits are pro though unexciting.
A Cinderella Story
Warner Bros. Oictures
A Clifford Werber production
Credits:
Director: Mark Rosman
Screenwriter: Leigh Dunlap
Producers: Clifford Werber, Ilyssa Goodman, Hunt Lowry, Dylan Sellers
Executive producers: Michael Rachmil, Peter Greene, Keith Giglio
Director of photography: Anthony B. Richmond
Production designer: Charles Breen
Music: Christophe Beck
Costume designer: Denise Wingate
Editor: Cara Silverman
Cast:
Sam: Hilary Duff
Fiona: Jennifer Coolidge
Austin: Chad Michael Murray
Carter: Dan Byrd
Rhonda: Regina King, Shelby: Julie Gonzalo
Mrs. Wells: Lin Shaye
Brianna: Madeline Zima
Gabriella: Andrea Avery
MPAA rating PG
Running time -- 95 minutes...
Thanks to popular young star Hilary Duff, the film might see a brisk boxoffice opening weekend. But word-of-mouth and more attractive options in the multiplexes should lead to a sharp drop-off by the second week.
Wicked stepmothers and Prince Charmings are awkward concepts in a contemporary setting. There is little evidence that writer Leigh Dunlap or her producers thought through how to re-imagine the fairy tale for modern day. Having Cinderella leave behind a cell phone instead of a glass slipper as the clock strikes midnight is not nearly enough.
First of all, the film never makes the case that our Cinderella, Valley high school senior Sam Montgomery (Duff), is truly abused. When her dear dad dies in the Northridge earthquake -- how exactly? we wonder -- her self-indulgent, plastic surgery-obsessed stepmom, Fiona (Jennifer Coolidge in an amusing but over-the-top performance), banishes Sam to the attic and puts her to work in her dad's '50s diner. The trouble is, designer Charles Breen turns that attic into a very cool-looking loft, Sam's paycheck goes to her college education and must we really feel sorry for a girl who complains that she has to drive a "beat-up old car"? The car runs, doesn't it?
Her high school is similarly disconnected from reality but not in the fairy tale sort of way. Not to put too fine a point on it, but Duff is a beauty, and costume designer Denise Wingate does nothing to make her seem otherwise. So why is Sam so unpopular with the boys? They mock her as "Diner Girl" -- what, no one else at school has a job? -- and her only male friend, geeky Carter (Dan Byrd), seems oblivious to her charms as well. Then she puts on a gown and mask and everyone is knocked out by her presence. Go figure.
Her dreamboat is popular football star Austin Ames Chad Michael Murray). He's a good-looking lad, but the script makes him into a boob. He's afraid of his dad, in a dead-end relationship with a shallow cheerleader (Julie Gonzalo), easily cowed by his buddies and unable or unwilling to pursue his Cinderella. They don't make Prince Charmings the way they used to.
Director Mark Rosman and Dunlap search for laughs in all the wrong places. Fiona's complete body makeover with implants, Botox, plastic surgery and a tanning machine earns a few laughs but gets old fast. The slapstick bumbling of Sam's "out-of-step-sisters," Brianna (Madeline Zima) and Gabriella (Andrea Avery), is thoroughly unfunny.
Duff and Byrd anchor the film in a perky though realistic acting style. But too many other actors resort to overblown shtick in a vain attempt to bring cartoonish characters to life. The diner sequences work the best: Regina King, Paul Rodriguez and others form a neat ensemble of characters who work hard, support one another and share a mutual contempt for the owner. Conversely, the sequences in high school or at home feel tired if not belabored.
Tech credits are pro though unexciting.
A Cinderella Story
Warner Bros. Oictures
A Clifford Werber production
Credits:
Director: Mark Rosman
Screenwriter: Leigh Dunlap
Producers: Clifford Werber, Ilyssa Goodman, Hunt Lowry, Dylan Sellers
Executive producers: Michael Rachmil, Peter Greene, Keith Giglio
Director of photography: Anthony B. Richmond
Production designer: Charles Breen
Music: Christophe Beck
Costume designer: Denise Wingate
Editor: Cara Silverman
Cast:
Sam: Hilary Duff
Fiona: Jennifer Coolidge
Austin: Chad Michael Murray
Carter: Dan Byrd
Rhonda: Regina King, Shelby: Julie Gonzalo
Mrs. Wells: Lin Shaye
Brianna: Madeline Zima
Gabriella: Andrea Avery
MPAA rating PG
Running time -- 95 minutes...
- 7/23/2004
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
DreamWorks is in talks to pick up the project Dreamer in turnaround from Warner Bros. Pictures with John Gatins attached to make his directorial debut and Kurt Russell on board to topline. Tollin/Robbins Prods. is producing the true story-inspired project about a Kentucky horse trainer and his 11-year-old son who rescue a horse with a broken leg. The two then help nurse the animal back to health and take it to race in the Breeders' Cup. Russell is set to play the horse trainer. Hunt Lowry is also on board as a producer. Production is pegged for a September start in Louisiana.
- 7/13/2004
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Carl Franklin is in discussions to direct Warner Bros. Pictures' legal thriller Emperor of Ocean Park, based on Stephen Carter's novel of the same name. Studio-based John Wells Prods. and Gaylord Films are producing. Negotiations are expected to begin this week. Emperor would be Franklin's fourth feature film based on a novel after previous efforts with High Crimes, One True Thing and Devil in a Blue Dress, the latter of which he also adapted for the big screen. Stephen Schiff (True Crime) adapted Emperor, which is about a black law professor who gets caught up in a deadly game while investigating the mysterious death of his father, a legendary conservative judge. John Wells and Hunt Lowry are producing the project. Kristin Harms and Stacy Cohen are executive producing. Warners exec Kevin McCormick is overseeing the project. Franklin, repped by WMA, recently wrapped shooting the MGM thriller Out of Time, starring Denzel Washington.
- 7/16/2003
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Chad Michael Murray, who starred as the Lone Ranger in the recent WB Network telefilm of the same name, will star opposite Hilary Duff in Warner Bros. Pictures/Gaylord Films' Cinderella Story. The project is set to go into production June 30 with Mark Rosman at the helm and studio-based Dylan Sellers producing with Clifford Werber and Gaylord's Hunt Lowry. Duff toplines the Clueless-meets-Cinderella story, a modern-day comedy set in Southern California's San Fernando Valley. The tale revolves around a young and slightly dorky high school student who goes through a transformation, becoming one of the hottest girls in school. Murray would play her love interest. Warners creative executive Alysia Cotter brought the project into the studio and will oversee. Duff's mother, Susan Duff, will receive a co-executive producer credit. Signing Murray to the film shows synergy at work between the Warner TV and film divisions. In addition to his work on the WB's Lone Ranger, Murray was a recurring on the network's Dawson's Creek and The Gilmore Girls. He will next star in the WB midseason replacement series One Tree Hill. Murray is repped by CAA, Bonnie Liedtke and Simmonds Management.
After making his feature directorial debut with the upcoming Warner Bros. Pictures skateboarding feature Grind, Gaylord Films production head Casey La Scala will take on another action sport for his follow-up film. La Scala will direct, produce and co-write an untitled youth-driven film set in the world of motocross racing to begin production this fall. Producing with La Scala are Gaylord topper Hunt Lowry and Grind co-producer Lance Sloane. Writing the project with La Scala will be Todd Samovitz, co-writer on the upcoming Lions Gate Films feature Wonderland, starring Val Kilmer.
- 4/22/2003
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Carroll Ballard, who most recently directed the 1996 feature Fly Away Home, has come aboard to helm How It Was With Dooms for Warner Bros. Pictures' Gaylord Films/Pandora and John Wells Prods. A spring start in Africa is being planned. The project is based on the book How It Was With Dooms: A True Story From Africa, by Carol Cawthra Hopcraft and Xan Hopcraft. It follows a young boy living in Nairobi, Kenya, and the special relationship he enjoys with an orphaned cheetah named Dooms, who becomes the family pet. The story is told through the boy's eyes. Carol Flint adapted the screenplay, with a rewrite by Karen Janszen and a production polish to be done by Mark St. Germain. Producing the project are John Wells and Hunt Lowry. Stacy Cohen and Kristin Harms are executive producing.
- 11/19/2002
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Carroll Ballard, who most recently directed the 1996 feature Fly Away Home, has come aboard to helm How It Was With Dooms for Warner Bros. Pictures' Gaylord Films/Pandora and John Wells Prods. A spring start in Africa is being planned. The project is based on the book How It Was With Dooms: A True Story From Africa, by Carol Cawthra Hopcraft and Xan Hopcraft. It follows a young boy living in Nairobi, Kenya, and the special relationship he enjoys with an orphaned cheetah named Dooms, who becomes the family pet. The story is told through the boy's eyes. Carol Flint adapted the screenplay, with a rewrite by Karen Janszen and a production polish to be done by Mark St. Germain. Producing the project are John Wells and Hunt Lowry. Stacy Cohen and Kristin Harms are executive producing.
- 11/19/2002
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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