In another sign of the return to China for Marvel after a long drought, Disney /Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 has been set for a day-and-date release on May 5. The James Gunn -directed finale in the series is due to hit North American cinemas that same day while international rollout will begin on May 3. (Check out the new China poster below.) This marks the third Marvel title to secure a theatrical release in China following a three-and-a-half year period during which no movies featuring a Marvel character gained entry to the world’s second largest box office market. Last month , Disney/Marvel’s Black Panther: Wakanda Forever and Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania became the first titles in since Sony/Marvel’s Spider-Man: Far From Home in June 2019, and Disney/Marvel’s Avengers: Endgame in April that same year. Neither Wakanda Forever ($15.6M) nor Quantumania ($39M through last Sunday) spun Chinese turnstiles off their axes in February — … [Read more...] about China: ‘Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 3’ Secures Day-And-Date Release
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Christopher Hampton Talks Screenwriter Control; ‘Dangerous Liaisons’ Sprint Against Miloš Forman – Qumra Masterclass
Oscar-winning screenwriter, playwright and film director Christopher Hampton was on feisty form in a masterclass in Qatar earlier this week as part of the Doha Film Institute ’s Qumra talent incubator event (March 10-16). Hampton, who won Academy Awards for the screenplays of Dangerous Liaisons and The Father and was Oscar-nominated for Atonement , urged aspiring screenwriters in the auditorium to try to retain some sort of control of their work and creative vision. “I would advise anybody to try to get at least some sort of associate producer credit to maintain a grip on the material and you have to fight… fight with a lot of people,” he said. “They don’t want to give it to you. They don’t want to give you those powers, but I’ve always argued that since the writer is the origin of the piece, they deserve to be respected.” “Don’t be unreasonable because there is a very strong possibility that other people’s ideas will be as good as yours but there comes a … [Read more...] about Christopher Hampton Talks Screenwriter Control; ‘Dangerous Liaisons’ Sprint Against Miloš Forman – Qumra Masterclass
Brian Walsh Dies: Popular Australian TV Exec Behind ‘Neighbours’ Success And Mentor To Guy Pearce Was 68
Brian Walsh , the popular Australian TV and film executive credited with a key role in Neighbours ‘ global success, has died unexpectedly. He was 68. An outpouring of sadness has come from Australian media industry following the death of Walsh, who was mentor to stars such as Guy Pearce and helped launch the careers of Nicole Kidman and Kylie Minogue. Australian network Foxtel , where Walsh most recently worked, confirmed he passed away yesterday in Sydney. Pearce wrote on Twitter he was “utterly devastated” at the loss of his “long time friend and mentor,” while the Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts called him “one of Australia’s most distinguished television producers.” Many of industry figures in Australia and further afield took to Twitter to recognize the influence of the exec, who was a familiar face at events such as the LA Screenings and Mipcom. Walsh’s 28-year career began at Australian public service network the ABC before he feature … [Read more...] about Brian Walsh Dies: Popular Australian TV Exec Behind ‘Neighbours’ Success And Mentor To Guy Pearce Was 68
Costume Designer Jacqueline West On ‘The Revenant’ & ‘Dune’; Spills Beans On Zendaya’s Off-The-Peg Desert Dress – Qumra Masterclass
Jacqueline West is one of Hollywood’s most respected costume designers with four Oscar nominations for Philip Kaufmann’s Quills , David Fincher’s The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button , Alejandro G. Iñárritu’s The Revenant and Denis Villeneuve’s Dune : Part One . She is also Terrence Malick’s go-to costume designer, after a recommendation from his long-time production designer Jack Fisk, working with him on The New World , The Tree of Life , To the Wonder and Knight of Cups , while other credits include Stephen Norrington’s The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen , Ben Affleck’s Argo and Martin Scorsese’s upcoming Killers Of The Flower Moon . Talking about her career in a masterclass for the Doha Film Institute , West said she fell into cinema by chance after connecting with Kaufmann through a clothes store she set up in Berkeley in the 1990s after majoring in art history, having originally planned to study sciences. “I never planned to work … [Read more...] about Costume Designer Jacqueline West On ‘The Revenant’ & ‘Dune’; Spills Beans On Zendaya’s Off-The-Peg Desert Dress – Qumra Masterclass
Lynne Ramsay Talks Love Of Shorts, The Art Of Adaptation & Why She Has No Plans To Make A Series – Qumra Masterclass
UK director Lynne Ramsay enjoyed international recognition early on in her career after short films Small Deaths and Gasman were invited to the Cannes and won the Jury Prize in its short film competition in 1996 and 1998 respectively. “That was the first film festival I went to. It was so overwhelming,” Ramsay told a masterclass for the Doha Film Institute this week . “When Gasman won a prize and [Francis Ford] Coppola gave me the prize, that opened the way for me to make other films.” The film’s reception in L.A., when Ramsay showed them there as part of a British Film Institute talent showcase in the late 1990s, was less enthusiastic. Revolving around a young girl who slowly discovers a puzzling side to her father’s life during an outing to a Christmas party, Gasman shows the protagonist and other characters from the waist down only in the opening scene and other parts of the film. “The Hollywood producers who saw it said, ‘Did the camera slip because you … [Read more...] about Lynne Ramsay Talks Love Of Shorts, The Art Of Adaptation & Why She Has No Plans To Make A Series – Qumra Masterclass
M. Night Shyamalan Signs Multi-Year First-Look Deal at Warner Bros, Sets ‘Trap’ At Studio
EXCLUSIVE: Warner Bros Pictures Group has inked a multi-year first-look directing and producing agreement with two-time Oscar-nominated filmmaker M. Night Shyamalan , whose movies have grossed $3.3 billion at the box office. In a career spanning four decades, Shyamalan has the rare distinction of having film open at No. 1 in each of those decades. Most recently, he saw his seventh No. 1 opening at the box office with Universal’s Knock at the Cabin, which currently counts $40 million worldwide off a $20M production cost. The pact with Shyamalan comes amid a string of talent deals made recently by Warner Bros. Pictures Group co-chairs and CEOs Michael De Luca and Pam Abdy; previous first looks include with Akiva Goldsman’s Weed Road as well as two-time Oscar-nominated filmmaker Baz Luhrmann , both first reported by Deadline. Under the new agreement, Shyamalan and his Philadelphia-based production company Blinding Edge Pictures, run by president of production … [Read more...] about M. Night Shyamalan Signs Multi-Year First-Look Deal at Warner Bros, Sets ‘Trap’ At Studio
Michael Winterbottom Talks Blurring Of Lines Between Documentary & Fiction; Appeals For UK Film Funding Rethink – Qumra Masterclass
Michael Winterbottom has devoted much of his filmmaking career to revisiting real-life events through works blurring the boundaries between documentary and drama to various degrees. The filmmaker shed light on his approach in a recent Doha Film Institute (DFI) masterclass, going behind the scenes of Welcome To Sarajevo , 24 Hour Party People , In This World , The Road To Guantanamo , A Might Heart and Eleven Days In May . “It’s a continuum, even if you’re filming a fantasy film in a studio on a green screen there is an element of document to that. You’re recording that moment of the act of performance,” he said when quizzed on his attitude towards documentary versus fiction. “Equally, even in a documentary like Eleven Days … you’re trying to shape that story, so it a continuum,” he added, referring to the 2022 documentary commemorating 68 children killed in Israeli bombing raids over Gaza in May 2021. Winterbottom elaborated on this idea through his … [Read more...] about Michael Winterbottom Talks Blurring Of Lines Between Documentary & Fiction; Appeals For UK Film Funding Rethink – Qumra Masterclass
Saudi Arabia Officially Launches $233M Film Sector Financing Program Aimed At Local & Int’l Companies
Saudi Cultural Development Fund has officially launched its Film Sector Financing Program , offering financial support to local and international film companies that want to get involved in the country’s burgeoning cinema industry. The initiative, with a portfolio of $233 million (879M Saudi Riyal), was first unveiled in early 2022 as part of the country’s $1.1 billion IGNITE Digital Content Program, then teased again during the Red Sea International Film Festival in Jeddah in December. The program officially launched against the backdrop of the film-focused the Ignite the Scene event in Riyadh last week, organized by the Saudi Ministry of Communications and Information Technology. The CDF said in a release that the initiative is open to local and international companies and that its aim is to support the growth of a sustainable local film industry by empowering the private sector with financing packages that support local content and promote filmmaking. The … [Read more...] about Saudi Arabia Officially Launches $233M Film Sector Financing Program Aimed At Local & Int’l Companies
‘Joy Ride’ Stars Set For CinemaCon’s Comedy Ensemble Of The Year Award
The stars of Joy Ride will receive at Comedy Ensemble of the Year Award at CinemaCon next month. Ashley Park , Sherry Cola , Stephanie Hsu and Sabrina Wu will be honored April 27 during the confab’s Big Screen Achievement Awards at The Colosseum at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas. “The cast of Joy Ride delivers a fearless and over-the-top hilarious performance, one that will delight audiences with their hysterical, no-holds-barred journey through friendship and self-discovery,” CinemaCon Managing Director Mitch Neuhauser said. “This brilliant group of actors captures the very essence of the messy human experience.” Here’s the logline for Joy Ride, from first-time director by Adele Lim, who co-wrote Crazy Rich Asians and Raya and the Last Dragon : When Audrey’s (Park) business trip to Asia goes sideways, she enlists the aid of Lolo (Cola), her irreverent childhood best friend who also happens to be a hot mess; Kat (Hsu), her college friend-turned-Chinese … [Read more...] about ‘Joy Ride’ Stars Set For CinemaCon’s Comedy Ensemble Of The Year Award