Thompson on Hollywood

CASTING WATCH: Hooper's Les Miserables Adds Redmayne to All Star Cast of Jackman, Crowe, Hathaway

Tom Hooper's The King's Speech follow-up, the screen adaptation of the global hit musical Les Miserables, just added Eddie Redmayne (My Week With Marilyn, The Good Shepherd) to its all-star cast. As Marius, Redmayne will join Hugh Jackman (Jean Valjean), Russell Crowe (Inspector Javert) and Anna Hathaway (Fantine).

By Anne Thompson and Sophia Savage
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November 1, 2011 8:13 AM
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Annual Academy Invite List Revealed: Lawrence, Cooper, Knowles, Kunis, Mara, Brand, Moonves, Langley

The annual Academy invite ritual hits Hollywood hard. Friday the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences announced 178 artists and executives "who have distinguished themselves by their contributions to theatrical motion pictures" to join its voting members.

By Anne Thompson
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June 17, 2011 7:42 AM
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Working Title's Fellner Talks Slate, Oscar Bait Anna Karenina & Tinker Tailor, Bad Movies

What a difference an Oscar season makes. Back during the crash of 2008, when the indie market was in free fall, a new set of rules emerged: no dramas. That's how a little movie called The King's Speech was turned down by most Brit and U.S. backers, except UK's Momentum and Harvey Weinstein, who didn't need to get anyone's approval. He knew a likely Oscar contender when he saw one.

By Anne Thompson
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April 1, 2011 7:48 AM
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Streisand/Hooper Gypsy Movie Remake is Dead, and Sondheim Killed It

Blame Stephen Sondheim. For those of you who missed the news, Barbra Streisand's planned remake of the musical Gypsy has bit the dust, at least for now. And it reportedly had Oscar-winning The King's Speech director Tom Hooper attached.

By Anne Thompson
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March 19, 2011 6:25 AM
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Oscar Box Office Bump for King's Speech and Black Swan

While Oscar wins can have a big impact on subsequent box office, some years they just don't. This year has seen a big boost in ticket sales from Oscar nominations on quite a few awards contenders. Anthony D'Alessandro looks at the numbers; see Oscar Bump Chart (below).Oscars have been handed out, but award season still isn’t over at the box office. A best picture win can translate into an extra 20% bump after Oscar night, while an actress or actor trophy can trigger an extra 30-50% in a film’s domestic cume. Fox Searchlight’sBlack Swanwill expand Friday from its current 617 locales to 681. At $103.83 million, the film recently inched out The Chronicles of Narnia 3($103.81 million) to become Fox’s highest-grossing 2010 domestic release. Meanwhile the Weinstein Co. is plotting to unspool its PG-13 take on King’s Speech at some point down the road, but will continue to play out its R-rated reel currently at 2,386 sites. No matter what version of King’s Speech audiences attend --with or without the ‘F’ words-- Weinstein Co. president David Glasser insists that there’s are still crowds who haven’t seen the period piece, despite its 93% domestic B.O. boost between noms and Oscar Night.

By Anthony D'Alessandro
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March 3, 2011 6:26 AM
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Oscars 2011: Red Carpet Videos: Directors Hooper, Ferguson, Fox, Junger, Granik, Walker

Best Picture & Director Winner: Tom Hooper, The King's Speech

By Anne Thompson
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March 1, 2011 10:34 AM
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Things I Learned On the Awards Party Circuit

On Oscar night I started on the red carpet --taking pictures, grabbing video interviews and tweeting madly--and then repaired to the interview room to listen to the show and backstage Q and As (transcripts here). After the best picture winners for The King's Speech had wrapped up, I walked over to the Governor's Ball just as Nicole Kidman and husband Keith Urban were leaving, heading down the escalator; the trio of winning producers, Iain Canning, Emile Sherman and Gareth Unwin, posed for me with their Oscars.

By Anne Thompson
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March 1, 2011 2:10 AM
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Oscar Talk: Final Edition, Oscar Wrap

It's a wrap, as In Contention's Kris Tapley and I analyze Sunday night's Oscar show winners and losers (below). Co-host Anne Hathaway came out ahead of James Franco, who seemed to be either too tired or too bored to do more than phone it in between tweets. (Caryn James' review is here.) Maybe he really was more comfortable at the Spirit Awards.