Thompson on Hollywood

Playboy's Hefner Donates $900,000 to Rescue Hollywood Sign

California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger announced Monday that Playboy founder Hugh Hefner has plunked down $900,000 to help to preserve 138-acres of land surrounding the landmark Hollywood sign, which the governator calls a "symbol of dreams and a symbol of opportunity and hope," reports the LAT:

By Anne Thompson
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April 26, 2010 5:21 AM
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Girl with Dragon Tattoo Heads Toward Mulligan and Pitt?

Word from England has Carey Mulligan ardently seeking to play the role of Lisbeth Salander in the upcoming David Fincher remake of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo written by Steve Zaillian. Note: Zaillian has not handed in his script, and no final casting is imminent. "Nothing is real," warns producer Scott Rudin. "Haven't even started yet!"

By Anne Thompson
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April 26, 2010 5:06 AM
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The Wrap Lines up Funding, Partners, THR Lands Publisher

Editor-in-chief Sharon Waxman's 15-month-old trade site The Wrap will be covering entertainment news for a little while longer.

By Anne Thompson
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April 26, 2010 4:45 AM
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Bret Easton Ellis's Imperial Bedrooms Heads for Fox Searchlight?

During his Sunday LAT Fest of Books Q & A, Bret Easton Ellis talked candidly about Hollywood with music journo Erik Himmelsbach, reports Cameron Carlson:

By Cameron Carlson
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April 26, 2010 1:45 AM
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SFIFF 53 Day Two: Constantin and Elena, Rivette's Around a Small Mountain

Meredith Brody starts seeing some movies at the SFIFF.

By Meredith Brody
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April 26, 2010 1:06 AM
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Levinson's You Don't Know Jack Stars Razor-Sharp Pacino

TOH critic Tim Appelo reviews HBO's latest, You Don't Know Jack, starring Al Pacino. (We'll continue our weekly post-Treme rehash Monday.)

By Tim Appelo
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April 25, 2010 11:32 AM
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Bollywood Star Amitabh Bachchan Suffers Liver Disease

Beloved Bollywood veteran Amitabh Bachchan, age 67, admits on his blog that he is suffering from cirrhosis of the liver. He writes that he received tainted blood after a 1982 set accident that caused hepititis and scarring.

By Anne Thompson
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April 25, 2010 10:08 AM
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Micmacs Opens 53rd San Francisco International Film Festival

San Francisco-based writer Meredith Brody, who covered the Berlin Film Festival for TOH, is reporting on the 53rd SFIFF, closer to home.

By Meredith Brody
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April 25, 2010 9:30 AM
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How to Train Your Dragon Roars Past The Back-Up Plan

How to Train Your Dragon came roaring back at the weekend box office, proving that fab word-of-mouth trumps familiar old-hat formulas every time. Jennifer Lopez rom-com The Back-Up Plan came in second, and DC comics movie The Losers was a disaster, coming in fourth behind Date Night. Anthony D'Alessandro dissects the numbers.Never dis a dragon – even at the box office. Paramount-DreamWorks 3D toon How to Train Your Dragon continued to flap its legs, err wings in a murky April weekend session, earning $15 million at 3,665 theaters. Dragon slipped 23% in its fifth weekend raising its domestic cume to $178 million. Overall, weekend receipts counted an estimated $95 million, off 10-15% from a year ago. Distribs account the drop to the lack of film product in the market, particularly with Oliver Stone’s Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps moving out of the month.

By Anthony D'Alessandro
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April 25, 2010 4:30 AM
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Location Tales at TCM Classic Film Fest, Bios and Film Biz at LAT Fest of Books

This weekend reviews are flowing in from New York's Tribeca, which has been renamed the Alex Gibney Film Festival (per @thefilmcynic). (John Anderson writes him up.) In the middle of the country, folks are enjoying EbertFest (per @ebertchicago), while in LA, both the LATimes Fest of Books (#latfob) and first-ever TCM Classic Film Fest are under way (@ThatRebecca). I was sorry to miss TCM's Jean-Paul Belmondo and Breathless Friday night; Saturday brings Fritz Lang's Complete Metropolis. And both Anjelica and Danny Huston turned up at The Treasure of the Sierra Madre.