The Star Online: Entertainment: Movies
The Star Online: Entertainment: Movies |
- Youngest Oscar nominee Wallis to play Annie
- 'Identity Thief' regains top of N. America box office
- Locals drive Life of Pi to Oscar victory
| Youngest Oscar nominee Wallis to play Annie Posted: 25 Feb 2013 03:21 PM PST LOS ANGELES: Quvenzhane Wallis, fresh from the Oscars spotlight as the youngest ever best actress nominee, is to play "Annie" in a Tinseltown remake of the hit Broadway musical, filmmakers said. The nine-year-old, who drew praise for her amazingly mature performance in "Beasts of the Southern Wild," will play the title role in "Annie," also a remake of the Oscar-nominated 1982 movie. "With the recent Academy Award nomination and critical acclaim, (Wallis) is a true star and we believe her portrayal as Annie will make her a true worldwide star," said Hannah Minghella, Columbia Pictures production head. "She is an extraordinary young talent with an amazing range, not only as an actress but as a singer and dancer, and we can't wait for audiences to further discover her." The new "Annie" - produced by Overbrook Entertainment, Marcy Media and Sony Pictures - will be released around December 2014, directed by Will Gluck and with producers including James Lassiter, Will Smith and Shawn "Jay-Z" Carter. Gluck is currently revising the film's screenplay, written by British actress Emma Thompson and rewritten by Aline Brosh McKenna based on the stage musical. Wallis - whose favorite pastimes include singing and dancing, basketball, volleyball and cheerleading, according to the filmmakers - has already worked on an upcoming film, "Twelve Years a Slave" with Brad Pitt. She also has made "Boneshaker," a short about an African family lost in America. "Silver Linings Playbook" star Jennifer Lawrence won the best actress Oscar on Sunday, beating shortlisted rivals including Wallis and, coincidentally, the oldest ever nominee in the category, 86-year-old French star Emmanuelle Riva. - AFP |
| 'Identity Thief' regains top of N. America box office Posted: 25 Feb 2013 03:21 PM PST LOS ANGELES: The comedy "Identity Thief" topped the box office in the United States and Canada in its third week, bouncing back on Oscars weekend after slipping from the top spot, figures showed Monday. The buddy flick, starring Jason Bateman from the TV series "Arrested Development" and "Bridesmaids" star Melissa McCarthy, pulled in $14 million from Friday to Sunday, according to tracking firm Exhibitor Relations. "Identity Thief," which opened in the number one spot three weeks ago, took the top position over the action film "Snitch" starring Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, which opened in second place and pulled in $13.2 million. Third was the animated kids movie "Escape from Planet Earth," which earned $10.7 million, followed by the romantic drama "Safe Haven" by Sweden's Lasse Hallstrom, which made $10.5 million. The fifth spot, down from number one last week, was "A Good Day to Die Hard," the latest "Die Hard" action film with Bruce Willis reprising his role as supercop John McClane. The movie, panned by reviewers, earned $10.2 million. Opening in sixth place was science fiction horror movie "Dark Skies" with $8.2 million, followed by Oscar-nominated romantic comedy "Silver Linings Playbook," starring Bradley Cooper and Jennifer Lawrence, with $5.8 million. Lawrence, of "Hunger Games" fame, won the best actress Oscar at the 85th Academy Awards on Sunday. "Silver Linings" has pulled in more than $107 million since it opened 15 weeks ago. In eighth place was the romantic zombie comedy "Warm Bodies," inspired by Shakespeare's "Romeo and Juliet," which earned $4.8 million, while "Beautiful Creatures," a supernatural fantasy flick featuring British Oscar-winner Emma Thompson, was in ninth with $3.6 million in its second week on the big screen. Rounding out the top ten was director Steven Soderbergh's thriller "Side Effects," starring Jude Law and Rooney Mara, which earned $3.4 million. - AFP |
| Locals drive Life of Pi to Oscar victory Posted: 25 Feb 2013 03:19 PM PST PETALING JAYA: A group of Malay-sians can bask in Oscar glory with the movie Life of Pi clinching the golden statuette for best visual effects. The team at Rhythm & Hues KL that worked primarily on the ocean and the tiger Richard Parker in the movie directed by Ang Lee cheered, screamed and cried when they discovered their work had helped win an Academy Award. "We were watching the live telecast," said KL branch senior manager Hasnul Hadi Samsudin. "When they announced Life Of Pi as the winner for visual effects, we were ecstatic." The award was presented during the ceremony to Guillaume Roche-ron, Bill Westenhofer, Erik-Jan De Boer and Donald R. Elliott. But being part of the Academy Award-winning blockbuster could prove to be more than a well-deserved honour for Rhythm & Hues – the win could also result in a slew of investors looking to buy over the studio and save them from folding. Hasnul was confident the win would help attract investors and that good news concerning the company's future would be announced "sooner rather than later". But Hasnul considers his team winners no matter what happens. "We've come out of this winners, we are already winners," he said, adding that while he had always felt the studio's work on Life Of Pi was award-worthy, he had never thought it would scoop not one, but four Academy Awards. According to Hasnul, preparing a few seconds of footage had taken weeks of work. As the film was shot in a water tank, the team had to remove the background and the divers so they could be replaced with computer-generated seas and skies. Emmalynn Yam, 23, who did rotoscopy and prep work for the film, could hardly believe the "surreal" turn of events. "I consider myself extremely lucky because I never once expected to be involved in a film of such calibre. "During the long hours, I used to joke that if it fell short of an Oscar, I'd flip tables in the studio. Needless to say, there won't be tables flipping anytime soon!" |
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