NOW YOU CAN SOB IN PUBLIC! "Millions have seen the YouTube video of "Christian the Lion" reuniting in Africa with the two men who bought him from a high-end London department store in 1969. Sony Pictures aims to bring the story of Christian and the two men, John Rendall and Anthony 'Ace' Bourke, to the big screen."
MOORE TAKES REVOLUTIONARY STEP IN FILM DISTRIBUTION "Michael Moore is bringing his latest film, 'Slacker Uprising,' to the masses via free online distribution. The film, which played last year’s Toronto Film Festival under the title 'Captain Mike Across America,' follows Moore’s 62-city tour during the 2004 election to rally young voters. … 'This is being done entirely as a gift to my fans,' Moore said. 'The only return any of us are hoping for is the largest turnout of young voters ever at the polls in November. I think 'Slacker Uprising' will inspire million to get off the couch and give voting a chance.' The $2 million doc will be promoted at the website slackeruprising.com but Moore said neither he nor [his production company] will profit from the release. … The 97-minute long 'Slacker Uprising' will be the first major film to be released in such a way."
Kirsten Dunst could really afford to improve her reputation in Hollywood for being an insufferable twit, especially amid recent reports that she had someone banned from the set of her latest movie after offering a small critique.
How to Lose Friends and Alienate People author Toby Young dropped by filming to see how the movie was coming along when he says he gave the director "a 'note' on [Kirsten's] performance in a particular scene." Evidently Kiki didn't take it too well and asked that he be kept off the set for the duration of filming.
Well, at least we know she gets the concept of the movie.
[Source]
Rumor has it Columbia Pictures is quietly putting together a script for a third installment of the Ghostbusters franchise. Hoping to bring back the original cast, which included Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, Harold Ramis and Ernie Hudson, the studio has enlisted top-notch producers of The Office to write the new script.
Obviously this would be huge, but would it kill Hollywood to pass up a money-making opportunity to preserve the awesomeness of the classics?
An unrefined, brash, ex-pageant queen arriviste with a bevy of children takes on the powers that be in her own honky-tonk way? I think I've seen this one before.
CRUISE TURNING TO COMEDIES TO SURVIVE "After his hilarious turn in Tropic Thunder, Tom Cruise’s comedic strategy for revitalizing his image seems to be on track. Next step in crafting Tom’s new public persona may be doing a little something for your kids, by voicing a character in Shrek 4.
MID-EAST BILLIONAIRES GIVE US BACK SOME OF OUR MONEY "Flush with cash, Abu Dhabi is spreading its wealth around the movie biz. The Abu Dhabi Media Co. is launching Imagenation, a production outfit with $1 billion to spend on developing, financing and producing feature films over the next five years in partnership with three American producers. Media reports today say the company has a mandate to produce eight features a year for the worldwide marketplace with a majority of the titles in the English language and targeted to mainstream audiences."
Do our eyes, ears and sense of humor deceive us, or does Lindsay Lohan's new movie not look that bad? In fact, does it look kind of alright?
The "Now in post production" notation at the end of the trailer is an odd, inauspicious choice, but let's just forget about that for now—Cheryl Hines!
Clip after the jump.
CONTINUED »
• The light almost came for Pete Doherty after yet another drug overdose. [DListed]
• Thanks to a misguided notion that America wants to see more of him on the big screen, Tom Cruise announced he is searching for more comedic movie roles. [ICYDK]
• Things we never thought we'd see again: Britney Spears looking good in a bikini. [HT]
• Harry Potter wants to be a drag queen. Naturally. [INO]
• We had almost forgotten about Josh Hartnett, so of course new reports are claiming that he's got a sex tape. [Yeeeah]
• It's a miracle! Christina Aguilera isn't wearing her red lipstick. [PS]
[Source]
Don LaFontaine, the man who lent his voice to over 5,000 movie trailers and television commercials, passed away yesterday in LA following complications due to a collapsed lung.
[Source]
ONCE AGAIN, 'ART FILMS' LOSE OUT TO ACTION FLICKS "The school's-out movie season concludes this weekend, and domestic ticket sales so far total $3.9 billion, up a little more than 1% from last year's record summer, according to Media by Numbers. Year-to-date revenues stand at $6.7 billion, down slightly from 2007, but up from the three earlier years, the tracking firm says. Higher ticket prices mean theaters are selling fewer total admissions, but few distributors and exhibitors are complaining — except for those handling what has become Hollywood's trickiest sell: the art film."
• Solange Knowles manages to be more obnoxious than most celebrity siblings. [DListed]
• Apparently the "turn to the side and hope Us Weekly does a good Photoshop job" diet doesn't stick. [Yeeeah]
• Jessica Simpson seriously needs to stop talking about Tony Romo. [PS]
• A new tell-all is in the works called Stalking Britney — or, as we like to call it, In Touch. [ICYDK]
• Heidi Montag continues to willingly be the butt of America's jokes. [HT]
• We disagree with this list of the top 10 funniest movies of all time. [INO]
Oh Carmen Electra. You really want people to respect you for something other than your career as a Baywatch babe, but most people don't even respect you for that. Actually, most people don't even remember you enough not to respect you, so guess there's that. So why take a gamble on relevance by appearing in Disaster Movie with Kim Kardashian and referring to yourself in third person during interviews?
Aging singer/actress Cher – still too cool for a surname – is in talks to play Catwoman opposite Christian Bale in the next installment of the Batman franchise. If the deal goes through, the gay icon will be skulking about Gotham with Johnny Depp, who's set to play The Riddler in the flick. It's the frailest and least intimidating cast of villains Batman's ever faced!
'TOWELHEAD' TITLE WILL REMAIN "An Islamic civil rights and advocacy group has asked Warner Bros. to change the title of its upcoming film 'Towelhead,' saying 'the word is commonly used in a derogatory manner against people of the Muslim faith or Arab origin.' The studio said it plans to keep things as it is and stand by the filmmakers, who chose the title to point out racial stereotypes, though it added, 'We apologize for any offense that is caused by the title.' 'Towelhead,' directed by Alan Ball and adapted for the screen by Alicia Erian from her novel of the same name, looks at the life of a 13-year-old Lebanese-American girl in the early '90s."
Gravely voiced action hero Vin Diesel's new movie, Babylon AD, currently has a zero percent rating on Rotten Tomatoes, with one reviewer (of the five who wasted the time to see it) calling the film "the sort of thing that would have starred Rutger Hauer in his direct-to-video heyday." We think this is the official end of a once promising career that took a wrong turn somewhere right after Boiler Room.
The Notebook co-stars Ryan Gosling and Rachel McAdams are apparently back together, as evidenced by their adorable PDA-filled breakfast in Toronto. Usually this kind of stuff makes us annoyed or bitter, but they have some magical power that makes us happy for them at all times.
[Source]
Reese Witherspoon is not going to be happy: Rumor has it her boyfriend Jake Gyllenhaal is about to get a new co-star by the name of Abie Cornish. This should sound familiar, because while Reese was married to Ryan Phillippe he starred in a movie with Abbie, which resulted in Reese and Ryan's divorce and Ryan and Abbie's current romantic relationship. Our head hurts.
Anyway, Jake and Abbie are being pegged to star in a new movie about a private expedition to the moon to create a Lunar colony, which won't be nearly as interesting as the drama that should be taking place off set. According to a source, "It could work out as long as Reese doesn't visit Jake on the set." Except it's never that easy.
[Source]
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