The Star Online: Entertainment: Movies
The Star Online: Entertainment: Movies |
| 'Django Unchained' gets China release after 'issues' resolved Posted: 29 Apr 2013 12:51 AM PDT LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Quentin Tarantino's violent slavery revenge fantasy Django Unchained will be released in China in May, its U.S. distributors said on Friday, and a Hollywood source said additional cuts had been made after Chinese authorities halted the film's initial rollout this month. The movie was pulled from theaters in China minutes into its debut screenings on April 11 for "technical reasons," according to a Shanghai movie theater official. The Chinese government censors all movies before they can be released. Scenes that contain nudity, politically sensitive issues, as well as extreme levels of violence, must be edited out before the film receives a go-ahead from the authorities. "We are delighted that audiences throughout China will be able to experience Django Unchained beginning Sunday, May 12th. There is tremendous excitement, anticipation and awareness for the film and we thank the local authorities for quickly resolving this issue," Columbia Pictures said in a statement. Columbia declined to comment on what changes, if any, had been made or why the movie, the first work by Tarantino to be shown in the increasingly important Chinese film market, was pulled from movie theaters in China earlier this month. Anticipation was high for the April opening of Django because of reports that it would have only minor cuts by Chinese censors, despite Tarantino's reputation for violence. When its was pulled from movie theaters, Chinese media quoted industry insiders as saying the cancellation was probably due to some nudity that may have escaped initial attention. A Hollywood source close to the film said on Friday that additional cuts had been made for the newly approved Chinese version but declined to elaborate on what they were. The film stars Jamie Foxx as a slave-turned-bounty-hunter who wreaks revenge on slave plantation owners while on a mission to free his wife. It features Tarantino's trademark style of extensive graphic violence, along with dark humor, and in one scene Foxx's character is strung upside down wearing only a skimpy cloth. China has become the largest international market for Hollywood films, with its box office takings for U.S. films growing by 36 percent in 2012, according to a Motion Picture Association of America report in March. Django Unchained won two Oscars in February for Christoph Waltz's supporting actor turn as a dentist who became a bounty hunter, and for Tarantino's screenplay. |
| 'Pain & Gain' knocks Cruise's 'Oblivion' from top spot Posted: 28 Apr 2013 08:51 PM PDT REUTERS - Mark Wahlberg's dark comedy Pain & Gain brought enough box office muscle to knock Tom Cruise out of the No. 1 spot on movie charts in the United States and Canada. Another box office heavyweight, Robert Downey Jr., scored big overseas with the international debut of Marvel superhero sequel Iron Man 3. Pain & Gain took in US$20 million at U.S. and Canadian theaters over its first three days, according to studio estimates released on Sunday. Cruise's sci-fi thriller, Oblivion, slipped to second place with US$17.4 million. Iron Man 3 hauled in US$195.3 million in 42 international markets, distributor Walt Disney Co. said, a total that surpassed the international opening of The Avengers. The movie arrives in the United States and Canada on Friday to kick off Hollywood's lucrative summer blockbuster season. Receipts for Pain & Gain beat pre-weekend forecasts for a debut of at least US$15 million. The film is based on the real-life story of Miami bodybuilders who kidnap a wealthy deli owner and plan to steal his fortune. When their plot goes awry, the criminals scramble to escape being caught. "We were estimating high teens, so anything with a two in front is good," said Don Harris, president of domestic theatrical distribution at Paramount Pictures, the Viacom Inc. unit that released the movie. Paramount Pictures produced Pain & Gain for US$26 million. Dwayne Johnson stars alongside Wahlberg in the film, which is directed by Michael Bay of the blockbuster Transformers series. Oblivion, a post-apocalyptic drama about the last humans on Earth, brought its two-week total in North America (the United States and Canada) to US$64.7 million. Comcast Corp's Universal Pictures estimated international sales through Sunday at US$134.1 million, bringing the film's worldwide total to US$198.8 million. Baseball drama 42, about Jackie Robinson's debut as Major League Baseball's first black player, finished in third place with US$10.7 million domestically. In fourth place, new romantic comedy The Big Wedding earned US$7.5 million. Despite a big-name cast including Robert De Niro, Susan Sarandon and Katherine Heigl, the movie was ravaged by critics. Only 6 percent of reviews on the Rotten Tomatoes website recommended the film. Lions Gate Entertainment Corp. distributed The Big Wedding, and Millennium Films covered most of the US$35 million production cost. In the No. 5 slot, animated Stone Age comedy The Croods grossed US$6.6 million. North American ticket sales for all movies this year reached nearly US$2.9 billion, running 11.8 percent behind sales at the same point in 2012, according to the box office division of Hollywood.com. The release of Iron Man 3 next weekend is expected to jump-start domestic sales. Boxoffice.com is projecting US$151 million in North American receipts over the film's first three days, which would rank as the biggest opening so far this year. Disney's executive vice president for motion picture distribution Dave Hollis declined to make a prediction for the film's U.S. opening, but was optimistic based on the overseas numbers. "To say that we are encouraged by these results is an understatement," Hollis said. |
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