Thompson on Hollywood

Robert Downey Jr. Developing Perry Mason for the Big Screen; Listen & Watch Past Incarnations

Yet another TV brand heads to the movies. Will they never learn? But the casting is choice in this case: Robert Downey Jr. may bring Perry Mason to the big screen through Warner Bros. and Team Downey. Like the original Erle Stanley Gardner books--there are 82; Downey and producer David Gambino are looking for a writer to adapt their own original story based on the character--the film would be set in 1930s Los Angeles and would follow defense attorney Mason, his secretary Della Street, private investigator Paul Drake and courtroom adversary Hamilton Burger.

By Sophia Savage
|
October 5, 2011 5:17 AM
|
3 Comments

More:

Box Office Scandal: Circuit Dealing Pervades Small Towns, Flagship vs. Century Theatres

In a David vs. Goliath face-off, indie-owned Flagship Theaters recently won an appeal in its crusade against Cinemark’s Century Theatres. Does the age-old practice of circuit dealing — an unethical way for chain exhibitors to muscle studios — still persist? Anthony D’Alessandro digs further into this taboo topic: What is circuit dealing, exactly? It’s a predatory film booking practice whereby multiplex chains strong-arm studios for product in a specific market. If a studio decides to book with the competition in a given community, usually a Mom-and-Pop venue, then the exhibitor will threaten to bar that film (or future films) from playing the entire chain.

By Anthony D'Alessandro
|
September 27, 2011 11:38 AM
|
0 Comments

More:

Descendants, Clooney, Streep Top Gurus 'O Gold Oscar Rankings

The Gurus have spoken. Post-festivals, Alexander Payne's The Descendants (1) has taken over the frontrunner spot from Steven Spielberg's unscreened period war adventure War Horse (2). Interestingly, Spielberg was considering submitting the film to Venice but decided not to do so. He usually likes to wait until the last possible minute to show his films. It's better NOT to be at the head of the pack, anyway. The Descendants' George Clooney (1) is also at the front of the Best Actor race.

By Anne Thompson
|
September 27, 2011 5:10 AM
|
2 Comments

Box Office: Lion King Steals Home Run from Moneyball During Crowded Weekend

It was such a crowded weekend at the box office that Sunday estimates are unclear. Clearly, too many movies were aimed at men. Anthony D'Alessandro reports. If you asked distribution executives on Thursday what was going to be No. 1 at the weekend box office, they would have pointed at the other guy. Sony, Warner Bros. and Disney all had strong prospects, but knew they could easily lose to each other. And this had nothing to do with the usual fall award contenders.

By Anthony D'Alessandro
|
September 25, 2011 4:56 AM
|
1 Comment

More:

Contagion Holds Strong at Box Office; Burns Talks Script, Viral Power of Bloggers

Steven Soderbergh has a solid commercial double in his disease thriller Contagion, which is holding strong at the box office in second place this weekend, with $44.2 million to date. Part of the credit goes to screenwriter Scott Z. Burns (The Bourne Ultimatum, The Informant) who helped to supply what Soderbergh calls "an ultra-realistic feel about a pandemic."

By Anne Thompson
|
September 19, 2011 2:37 AM
|
0 Comments

More:

The Late Great John Calley: Businessman with Soul of Artist, Life Saver

Longtime Hollywood producer and studio executive John Calley has died after a long illness. He was 81. While at Warner Bros. in the 1970s (as production chief, president, and vice chairman), the controversial and groundbreaking movies Calley supervised included Alan Pakula's All the President's Men, Stanley Kubrick's A Clockwork Orange, William Friedkin's The Exorcist and Don Siegel's Dirty Hairy.

By Anne Thompson and Sophia Savage
|
September 13, 2011 9:47 AM
|
0 Comments

More:

Clint Eastwood's J. Edgar to Open 25th AFI FEST

Clint Eastwood's period biopic J. Edgar will open the 25th AFI FEST on November 3. The R-rated movie, which opens limited November 9 and wide November 11, was not ready for the fall festival circuit.

By Anne Thompson
|
September 7, 2011 7:59 AM
|
4 Comments

More:

Studios Rethink Big-Budget Producers and Their Pricey Tentpoles--and Westerns

Blame Cowboys & Aliens.

By Anne Thompson
|
August 19, 2011 3:14 AM
|
2 Comments

More:

Ridley Scott: From Alien Reboot Prometheus to Blade Runner Sequel

The highlight of Comic-Con, bar none, was Ridley Scott's Prometheus footage. While Fox and Scott are downplaying the sci-fi space thriller's relationship to the original Alien and the kick-ass James Cameron sequel Aliens, there's no question this movie is grown from the same DNA; Scott admits it. The movie is a further exploration of that future world produced with the scale and scope that new technology makes possible. And its ultimate goal is "to scare the living shit out of you," Scott said via satellite from Iceland. Charlize Theron, Michael Fassbender, Guy Pearce, Idris Elba, and Noomi Rapace star in the film due in June, 2012.

By Anne Thompson
|
August 18, 2011 5:37 AM
|
3 Comments

More:

Oscar Watch: Hanks and Horn in Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close

Hitfix posts the first image from Oscar perennial Stephen Daldry’s film adaptation of Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close, showing a sweet moment between Manhattan father and son Tom Hanks and Thomas Horn, who later searches for messages from his father following the September 11th disaster. Recent Oscar-winner Sandra Bullock plays Horn's mother.