The Star Online: Entertainment: Movies
The Star Online: Entertainment: Movies |
- Next Bond movie in 3 years
- 'Twilight' author hopes fans will watch 'The Host'
- Wu Xiubo takes on romantic role in Sleepless In Seattle
| Posted: 20 Mar 2013 04:02 AM PDT LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Movie studio MGM said on Tuesday it expects to release the next James Bond movie within three years, and hopes to announce soon a new director after Sam Mendes decided to move on. In a conference call with investors, MGM Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Gary Barber said the studio was developing the screenplay for the next, 24th movie in the 50-year-old franchise about the British secret agent. "We are very excited about the franchise, we look forward to announcing a director soon," Barber said. "We are currently developing the screenplay and working with our partners. We look forward to developing the script soon and signing a director. We are hoping within the next 3 years it will be released," Barber added. He gave no details on casting but Daniel Craig has already signed on for two more films in the lead role as the suave 007 agent. The 2012 Bond film Skyfall, starring Craig, made US$1.1 billion at the global box office and impressed critics. But Britain's Mendes said earlier this month that he wanted to focus on his theater projects for the foreseeable future. Barber said Mendes "did an amazing job on Skyfall. We are very thankful for the work that he did." Privately-held MGM jointly produced Skyfall with Sony Corp's movie studio arm. MGM said on Monday that Skyfall and The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey had helped bring a three-fold increase in its 2012 net income. |
| 'Twilight' author hopes fans will watch 'The Host' Posted: 20 Mar 2013 03:53 AM PDT LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Author Stephanie Meyer is hoping her vampire fans will be willing to step into a new world and embrace aliens as the first film of her new book series, The Host, hits the big screens. Fans of the successful Twilight Saga box office franchise have been eagerly anticipating Meyer's next offering on the big screen with The Host out in U.S. theaters on 29 March. But Meyer (pic), speaking at the film's red carpet premiere in Los Angeles, said the new film may not be what fans of the popular vampire series expect from her. "If (fans) go into it wanting a repeat of Twilight they probably will not be thrilled, because it is not. It is a very different kind of story," Meyer told Reuters TV. "I think if they are willing to go on a new ride with me and try out something a little different than I think they will really like it." The five Twilight films, based on Meyer's best-selling novels, focus on a love story between a vampire and a human and grossed more than US$3.3 billion at the global box office, according to movie sales tracking website BoxOfficeMojo.com. The films, which attracted a devoted teenage following, launched lead stars Kristen Stewart, Robert Pattinson and Taylor Lautner into A-list fame. The Host, adapted from Meyer's novel of the same name, explores a post-apocalyptic world where alien beings called Souls invade Earth and take over human bodies and minds, causing conflicting emotions between the two beings in the same body. Meyer has already said that she has plots in mind for follow-on books and hoped this would become a trilogy, which would open the way for sequel films. In The Host, Irish-American actress Saoirse Ronan, 18, plays human Melanie Stryder who is taken over by a Soul called Wanda. Ronan, who starred in The Lovely Bones and was nominated for a Best Supporting Actress Oscars for Atonement, said she enjoyed the challenge of switching between two personalities. "I really enjoyed playing Melanie because the majority of the film I am playing Wanda, who is quite a pure, serene and understanding character," said Ronan on the red carpet. British actor Max Irons, 27, the son of Irish actress Sinead Cusack and English actor Jeremy Irons, plays Melanie's love interest Jared Howe. He said the film's complex story touched many different genres, appealing to more than just Twilight fans. "It is a science fiction movie at heart, it is a story of human survival. Yes, it has the romance, but I think it has a lot more for a lot of different people," said Irons. Diane Kruger, Jake Abel and William Hurt also star in The Host, directed by Andrew Niccol. The film is distributed in the United States by Open Road Films, a joint venture between theater owners Regal Entertainment Group and AMC Entertainment Inc. |
| Wu Xiubo takes on romantic role in Sleepless In Seattle Posted: 20 Mar 2013 02:57 AM PDT Chinese actor Wu Xiubo tackles a romantic comedy in this homage to Sleepless In Seattle. ONE OF the highest paid actors on Chinese television, Wu Xiubo is best known for his role as Liu Xinjie in Before The Dawn, a spy television drama set during the rule of communism in China. In his latest movie Finding Mr. Right however, he takes a shot at the romance genre instead. Wu plays Frank, who was once a famous doctor in Beijing before he moved his family to the United States and subsequently endured a failed marriage. Alongside Wu is Chinese actress Tang Wei — notable for her breakout lead role in 2007's Lust, Caution. Tang plays Jiajia, a pregnant city girl who travels to Seattle to give birth to the son of her rich, married boyfriend. Jiajia picks Seattle as it is the city where her favourite movie, Sleepless In Seattle, was set in. Much like the 1993 Hollywood film that Finding Mr. Right draws inspiration from, Frank and Jiajia eventually cross paths in Seattle, and a love story blossoms. Wu's character in this movie as quite unlike his previous roles, and this is exactly why he decided to take it. "I wanted to play a character that is different from my previous roles," explained Wu. "The past films that I was in were mostly told from a man's point of view. This particular film is a woman's work, so it has a softer side to it, and it is told from a woman's perspective. I have not been in such a film before, so I wanted to try it out." The movie is both directed and written by Xue Xiaolu, whom Wu describes as "a very outstanding screenwriter". "She has written many really great works in the past, one of them being Don't Talk To Strangers," he said in an interview transcript provided by the movie's Malaysian distributers, RAM Entertainment. "She then directed Ocean Heaven, and Finding Mr. Right is the second film she is directing. I've always had faith in her writing, and I believe she does well as a director too." The famous Empire State Building in New York City was a key setting in Sleepless In Seattle, and the same building also plays a prominent part in the movie. In the film's production notes, Xue said that the scenes there were the hardest to shoot as the building has extremely stringent shooting requirements. The crew only had a total of four hours over two days to shoot on location, and that included the time used to ferry equipment up the building. Wu recalled that they had to be on the set by 5am without any sleep before that, because they had be on standby to shoot at the Empire State Building. While the story may seem like a predictably feel-good one, Finding Mr. Right is filled with charm and humor that will surely delight the romantic at heart. "This is a very warm, romantic film. Ladies can also bring their partners to watch it, so that the guys can learn from Frank," Wu said with a laugh. – Amanda Soo Finding Mr. Right is set for a limited release in Malaysia on March 21. |
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