Thompson on Hollywood

Vanguard Films Forms Alliance with "Kung Fu Panda"'s Stevenson and Moviemill

John Williams' Vanguard Films has inked an overall producing and directing deal with John Stevenson (Kung Fu Panda) and formed a financing and distribution alliance with former president of Lakeshore International Peter Rogers' new company Moviemill.

By Anne Thompson
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November 8, 2010 9:32 AM
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The Hobbit's Cast, And A Good Day for New Zealand Cinema

While Peter Jackson and Warner Bros. deal with the issue of whether or not to shoot The Hobbit in New Zealand, the director has confirmed the casting of the film. (UPDATE: Video of Jackson and co-producer and co-writer Philippa Boyens' NZ TV interview below.)

By Sophia Savage
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October 22, 2010 8:45 AM
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The Hobbit New Zealand Filming Fracas: Not Resolved

While the blogosphere goes mad with various reports about how or where Peter Jackson's green-lit The Hobbit will be filmed, it seems that the guild problems with shooting in New Zealand have not been resolved. Jackson is still threatening to shoot elsewhere--London perhaps--which could cost New Zealand untold millions. While New Zealand plans to fight to keep the two Hobbit films when Warners brass arrive next week, it may be too late.

By Anne Thompson
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October 21, 2010 6:52 AM
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Production News: Bourne Without Bourne, Mad Max Stalls, Eastern Promises 2

- Writer-director Tony Gilroy is trying to have it both ways. He confirms that The Bourne Legacy will be made without Matt Damon - but he contradicts himself. "This is not a reboot or a recast or a prequel. No one's replacing Matt Damon," Gilroy says. "There will be a whole new hero, a whole new chapter…this is a stand-alone project" that happens to be using the title of Robert Ludlum's book, "but will not use the story":"The easiest way to think of it is an expansion or a reveal…Jason Bourne will not be in this film, but he's very much alive. What happened in the first three films is the trigger for what happens. I'm building a legend and an environment and a wider conspiracy...the world we're making enhances and advances and invites Jason Bourne's return [down the road]…Everything you saw in the first three films actually happened, and everyone who got into them will be rewarded for paying attention. We're going to show you the bigger picture, the bigger canvas. When you see where we're going and see what we're doing it'll be pretty obvious."

By Sophia Savage
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October 11, 2010 12:36 PM
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Piling on Snow White, 360's Four-Poster Casting, BBC Lines Up Mendes, Campion, Hare

- Universal is finalizing a deal to land the latest public-domain brand-name fairy tale, Snow White and the Huntsman, written by Evan Daugherty and to be directed by commercials-turned-feature director Rupert Sanders.

By Sophia Savage
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September 30, 2010 7:21 AM
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Del Toro's DreamWorks Deal and Trollhunters, Jackson Fights Unions on Hobbit

- Guillermo del Toro, back from promoting two productions at the Toronto Film Festival--Julia's Eyes and Biutiful (the official Mexican submission for the foreign Oscar)--is now working closely as a consultant and exec producer with DreamWorks Animation. He will help out on Kung Fu Panda 2, Puss in Boots and another TBA project as well as Trollhunters, which he will write and direct.

By Sophia Savage
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September 28, 2010 6:21 AM
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Weekend Box Office: Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps Easily Clips Legend of the Guardians, You Again

There's life yet in the adult drama, as Oliver Stone's Wall Street sequel easily outscored the weekend competition. Anthony D'Alessandro reports.

By Anthony D'Alessandro
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September 26, 2010 4:30 AM
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Casting News: Hendricks in Drive, Renner and Rapace Witch Hunters, Seydoux vs. Bruni in Paris

- Drive just got juicier with Mad Men fixture Christina Hendricks set to join Ryan Gosling, Carey Mulligan, Bryan Cranston, Oscar Isaacs and Albert Brooks in the Nicolas Winding Refn film, which shifts into gear at the end of this month. Hendrick's role is unidentified, though The Playlist suggests, following a perusal of the "terrific, noirish script," that she must be the female associate of bank-robber-Mulligan's-boyfriend (presumably played by Isaacs).

By Sophia Savage
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September 9, 2010 12:31 PM
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Waiting for Malick: The Tree of Life Should Open by Year's End

A new favorite sport among movie lovers is forecasting exactly when Terrence Malick's The Tree of Life will come out.

By Anne Thompson
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August 20, 2010 1:06 AM
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Comic-Con: Like Inception, Snyder's Sucker Punch Lets the Mind Run Wild

From Inception to Sucker Punch, the mind is the new cinematic landscape, where anything can happen, a realm of infinite possibility, where you can play with logic. What better place for Zack Snyder to go wild?