Thompson on Hollywood

Casting Watch: Blunt Joins Depp, Streep, Pine and Gyllenhaal for Disney's Sondheim Musical 'Into the Woods' UPDATE

News

UPDATE: Emily Blunt has nabbed the lead female role of the Baker's Wife in Broadway musical choreographer-turned-director Rob Marshall's ("Chicago") screen adaptation of Stephen Sondheim's masterpiece "Into the Woods." She joins a knockout cast of Meryl Streep, who will play the Witch, Johnny Depp as the Wolf, Jake Gyllenhaal and Chris Pine as two princes and James Cordon ("One Man Two Guvnors") as the Baker.

By Anne Thompson and Beth Hanna
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May 17, 2013 11:51 AM
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Branagh's 'Magic Flute' Finally Opens In Theaters June 9 (TRAILER)

News

Many movie lovers have seen Ingmar Bergman's magical 1975 version of "The Magic Flute." But few have had a chance to check out Kenneth Branagh's 2006 take on the most popular Mozart opera. Well, that one is coming to theaters for the first time in the U.S. on June 9th. Emerging Networks will present the film with a libretto adapted by Stephen Fry and music arranged and conducted by James Conlon in 150 theaters on Sunday June 9th and Tuesday June 11th.

By Anne Thompson
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May 9, 2013 1:31 PM
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Fox is Developing an EDM Movie with DJ, Producer Diplo

News

Acclaimed as an electronic DJ and producer, Thomas Wesley Pentz, better known as Diplo, is in talks with 20th Century Fox to develop a new script on a story that centers around three teens who want to get into Diplo's Electronic Music Festival, described as "8 Mile meets Project X."

By Maggie Lange
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April 16, 2013 6:37 AM
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Review: Pre-'Les Mis,' Minnie Driver & Gang Sing Live in Welsh High School Musical 'Hunky Dory'

Reviews

Welsh filmmaker Marc Evans' elegiac, semi-autobiographical high school musical "Hunky Dory," which played at SXSW last year after its UK release, is finally opening in NY and LA theaters and on VOD March 22 via distrib Variance. The delightful comedy written by Laurence Coriat, set in the sweltering hot summer of 1976, stars a winning Minnie Driver as a drama teacher who mounts a glam rock version of Shakespeare's "The Tempest."

By Anne Thompson
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March 21, 2013 4:02 PM
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Magnolia Acquires Sundance and SXSW Music Doc 'Muscle Shoals'

News

Magnolia Pictures likes docs. The indie distributor has acquired US rights to Greg "Freddy" Camalier's Sundance entry "Muscle Shoals," a documentary about the Alabama Muscle Shoals recording studio that spawned some of the greatest records of all time. Produced by Stephen Badger and Camalier, the film includes interviews with Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Percy Sledge, Gregg Allman, Clarence Carter, Alicia Keys, Bono and more. The film is debuting in Austin Tuesday at the Paramount Theater as part of the SXSW Film Festival.

By Anne Thompson
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March 12, 2013 2:29 PM
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When Hollywood Met Broadway: Screen Stars Hit the Stage as Stage-to-Screen Musicals (and Vice-Versa) Move Through the Pipeline

Features

Let's face it, movie musicals are usually bad. Don't get me wrong, nobody should love them more than me: I'm a movie nerd and a musical nerd, so a movie musical should be exactly what the doctor ordered. But sometimes the whole ends up a lot less than the sum of its parts. Think pickles plus peanut butter: Just. Don't. Do it. (Or think "Rock of Ages." Exactly.) But every now and again something like "Les Miserables" happens and we remember that movie musicals can be awesome. Sure, they're bombastic and unrealistic. Yes, it's weird that people start singing on the street and orchestral music seeps out of the very air.

By Jacob Combs
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February 28, 2013 12:35 PM
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Yes It's True: Oscar Nominee Quvenzhane Wallis Will Topline Musical Reboot 'Annie'

News

The rumors that Oscar-nominated best actress Quvenzhane Wallis, 9, would star in a musical reboot of "Annie" are true. Overbrook Entertainment, Marcy Media, director Will Gluck and Sony Pictures Entertainment have confirmed that the diminutive New Orleans star of "Beasts of the Southern Wild" will take the title role of Annie.

By Anne Thompson
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February 24, 2013 2:06 PM
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Immersed in Movies: Assessing the Music Oscar Race

Awards

Like cinematography, production design, editing, and sound, the Oscar-nominated music scores are all organically tied to their movies in very personal ways. So it's hard to pick a winner among such stalwarts as Alexandre Desplat ("Argo"), Thomas Newman ("Skyfall"), Mychael Danna ("Life of Pi"), and Dario Marianelli ("Anna Karenina") along with the venerable old warhorse, John Williams ("Lincoln"). Still, I keep hearing a lot about Danna being the favorite in a very close race.

By Bill Desowitz
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February 15, 2013 3:41 PM
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Interactive: The Music Behind 'A Late Quartet'

News

By Jacob Combs
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February 11, 2013 6:38 AM
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'Les Miserables' Soundtrack Scores on Charts, Hathaway's 'I Dreamed a Dream' Soars

News

When "Les Miserables: Highlights From the Motion Picture Soundtrack" debuted on December 21, it claimed the top spot of Billboard's soundtrack chart. In three days it sold 43,000 copies, 60% of which were digital downloads. The most popular of the 20 tracks included in the album is Anne Hathaway's "I Dreamed a Dream" (20,000 copies sold in three days); it may win her the Best Supporting Actress Oscar. The soundtrack has also taken the top spot on both iTunes (before being pushed to No. 2 by Mumford & Sons' "Babel") and Amazon. "I Dreamed a Dream" is iTunes' 27th most-downloaded track.