Thompson on Hollywood

Duncan Jones is Unhappy About Moon

In a series of tweets this morning UK filmmaker Duncan Jones--who won an emerging filmmaker prize from BAFTA for his low-budget sci-fi film Moon---bares his rage about not making money on the film. Sorry, but these days few indies do. Sony Worldwide Acquisitions Group acquired the film in many territories, some of which were sold to various distribs. Sony Pictures Classics liked the film and asked to release it in the US. Among theatrical distribs SPC is relatively good about not overspending and sharing money with their filmmakers, although there wasn't much to share in this case.

By Anne Thompson
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April 1, 2010 4:29 AM
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MSpot Streams Movies to PCs and Mobiles

I streamed The Hunt for Red October on my office computer the other day. Now that I have a fast cable modem and a nice big monitor, it flowed beautifully. No glitches. And in theory--although I couldn't get my BlackBerry to cooperate--if I had wanted to stop the action and continue watching on my PDA, I could do that too, for the price of a $4.99 24-hour rental on mSpot.

By Anne Thompson
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April 1, 2010 1:02 AM
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Spike Jonze's Absolut Short I'm Here

Spike Jonze's half-hour short I'm Here, backed by Absolut Vodka, which debuted at Sundance, is now online. Jonze encourages you to watch it with friends on Facebook. It's a strange lackadaisical little romance with robots.

By Anne Thompson
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March 31, 2010 12:18 PM
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Cannes Update: New Possible Titles

It's fun tracking down Cannes titles. Ion Cinema has a bead on the Director's Fortnight line-up, including filmmakers Denis Villeneuve, Tran Anh Hung, Gilles Marchand, Lodge Kerrigan, Pernilla August, Marian Crisan, Gregg Araki, Lola Doillon, Agnes Kocsis and Julie Bertucelli. Ion also predicts for the official selection, Brazilian and Cannes vet Andrucha Waddington's Lope, "a chronicle of the life of Lope de Vega" with Sonia Braga and Alberto Ammann in the title role, and Gael García Bernal in Icíar Bollaín's Even the Rain, from Spain.

By Anne Thompson
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March 31, 2010 10:57 AM
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Girl with Dragon Tattoo: Will Fincher Cast Stewart? Or Unknown?

David Fincher's next directing gig will be Sony and producer Scott Rudin's English-language version of Stieg Larsson's global bestseller, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, The Playlist confirms. The movie is on the fast track with Steve Zaillian writing.

By Anne Thompson
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March 31, 2010 9:14 AM
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3-D Divide: Upfront vs. Retrofit

No one in Hollywood will listen now that Avatar and Alice in Wonderland have scored the mother-lode of grosses as 3-D movies. Could Alice have done as well in 2-D as a perfect match between name director, beloved children's book, and family-friendly studio? No, confirms Disney, because 70% of its grosses came from 3-D screens.

By Anne Thompson
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March 31, 2010 1:29 AM
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Rating Likely Candidates for Cannes

Of the 40 films on indieWIRE's Cannes wish list--a clever way of reporting what might be going without knowing for sure what will be announced on April 15--I hear that Oliver Stone's Wall Street Never Sleeps and Woody Allen's You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger are going, while Cannes negotiations for The Tree of Life are proceeding smoothly re: Brad Pitt and Sean Penn walking the red carpet and doing a press conference without the retiring director, which is a big concession for Cannes.

By Anne Thompson
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March 30, 2010 5:41 AM
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Godzilla Returns, and Legendary's Got Him

The giant Japanese green monster Godzilla is back. So like The Hulk, Robin Hood, Sherlock Holmes, The Addams Family, Alice in Wonderland, Clash of the Titans and so many other familiar properties, Hollywood is going back to the well with a franchise and an easy-sell name. Sigh.

By Anne Thompson
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March 30, 2010 1:01 AM
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Spielberg Does Not Have Asperger's Syndrome

Imagine my surprise when listening to an NPR report stating as fact that Steven Spielberg has Asperger's Syndrome. Anyone who has had any interaction with the guy knows that he's not only a super-smart and gifted filmmaker with extraordinary technological command (which easily could accompany an Asperger's diagnosis), but he's also highly intuitive, with warmth, charm and social skills to spare (which is far less frequent).