Also in Monday morning’s round-up of news briefs, Magnolia Pictures’ The Queen of Versailles debuted strong in the specialty box office. Emile Hirsch in talks for Navy role and the Teamsters set contract with producers. Twilight: Breaking Dawn Among Night’s Big Winners at 2012 Teen Choice Awards Kristen Stewart, Robert Pattinson and Taylor Lautner picked up the event’s “surf board trophies” as well as its version of a “lifetime achievement award,” THR reports . The Queen of Versailles , Hara-Kiri , Well Digger’s Daughter Debut; Beasts Expands: Specialty Box Office Magnolia Pictures’ Sundance doc from lauren Greenfield, The Queen Of Versailles, opened by cashing in among the specialties, grossing $54K with a regal $18K average in 3 theaters over the weekend. has picked up a good amount of attention from morning TV and other shows. The documentary’s subjects — a mega-wealthy couple called “1-percenters” who live a life of reckless luxury but then face a day of reckoning — appear to be the film’s best marketers, perhaps inadvertently, Deadline reports . Emile Hirsch in Talks to Play Final SEAL Role Hirsch would play Navy SEAL Danny Dietz in Lone Survivor , a drama set to be directed by Peter Berg. Mark Wahlberg, Taylor Kitsch and Ben Foster are also set to play the other main roles in the drama centered around four Navy SEALs. Universal Pictures, which developed the movie, will distribute, Deadline reports . Police Patrol Multiplexes Across U.S. Police in communities throughout the country made their presence known at multiplexes as audiences headed to The Dark Knight Rises . Their presence is expected to be in place for a couple of weeks in some areas, Variety reports . Teamsters Local 399 Ratifies 3-Year Contract with Producers The union ratified a contract with the Association of Motion Picture & Television Producers. The vote was the latest in a series of ratifications by various unions covered under the new contract with producers, Deadline reports .
Also in Friday afternoon’s round-up of news. Warner Bros. has not seen any indication that the tragic shooting earlier today in Colorado at a Dark Knight Rises showing has had any influence on the pic’s ticket sales. In other news, Taylor Kitsch may lead a racing movie franchise and Kevin Costner to play inspiring real-life coach. AMC Banning Costumes in Wake of Tragedy The theater chain said it’s not going to allow guests into its theaters “in costumes that make other guests feel uncomfortable and we will not permit face-covering masks or fake weapons inside our buildings.” Deadline reports . No Slowdown in TDKR Ticket Sales (so far) North American midnight figures for The Dark Knight Rises came in at $30.640M from 3,825 locations for a $8,010 per location average. Following the tragedy, numbers were still brisk with $500K grossed just in Manhattan by 10am, Deadline reports . Theater Stocks Drop Following Shooting Exhibitors’ shares fell Friday after the deaths of 12 people early Friday morning at a Cinemark theater in Aurora, CO. Shares of Cinemark and Regal Entertainment Group both declined 4%, Variety reports . Taylor Kitsch Zooms to Need For Speed Kitsch is in line to play the lead in Dreamworks’ Need For Speed , based on a series of EA car racing video games of the same name. It’s set for a February 2014 release, Zap2it reports . Kevin Costner in Talks for Disney’s McFarland Costner would star in the true story about a coach in the predominately Latino community of McFarland, CA who formed a high school track team that became champions despite numerous social and physical obstacles in the ’80s, THR reports .
No, really — I’m asking: “Scalpers reportedly are re-selling The Dark Knight Rises ’ midnight IMAX tickets for $65-$100 apiece on both Craigslist and StubHub for NYC’s AMC Loews Lincoln Square 13 — higher even than for Avengers . Yet this may be my favorite Dark Knight Rises pre-release factoid so far: ‘All the major circuits have asked for more frequent pickups from their Brink’s Truck drivers to deposit the record amount of cash they are anticipating,’ a Warner Bros exec told me today.” [ Deadline ]
With a year to go before Pacific Rim hits theaters, Guillermo del Toro ( Hellboy , Pan’s Labyrinth ) hit Comic-Con with stars Charlie Hunnam , Ron Perlman , Rinko Kikuchi and Charlie Day to preview the giant robot-monster movie, inspired by the Japanese sci-fi pics he watched as a kid. His vision for the film? Dirty, epic, and realistic — so much so that Del Toro and his crew built functioning, practical robots and entire sets with hydraulics (“a huge engineering feat!”), putting his actors in the thick of the action rather than go the CG route. Del Toro called the experience “the best I’ve had on any film set in all my life.” Day remembered it slightly differently: “You tortured the f*** out of us!” Developed with writer Travis Beacham, Pacific Rim is set years into a war between humans, piloting massive robots called Jaegers, and giant monsters from the sea that threaten to wipe out civilization. When his passion project At the Mountains of Madness folded, Del Toro turned his attentions to Pacific Rim , channeling an outsized amount of energy into making it his most ambitious project to date. Given the Japanese sci-fi flicks that inspired the film — not to mention the upcoming Godzilla reboot bringing kaiju culture back into the mainstream — it’s easy to guess that genre aficionado Del Toro has crafted in Pacific Rim a love letter to said films. That love is abundant, but he insists that the pic will be forging its own path rather than referencing what’s come before. “I wouldn’t compare it to a Godzilla film,” said Del Toro. “[I told my crew] we should not reference other movies. We should not go and re-watch Gamera or re-watch Gojira or War of the Gargantuans because we love them, right? So we said, let’s create the world that we’re doing. We should not be doing a referential film.” So what should you know about Pacific Rim ? Del Toro and his cast shared the essentials of the characters and robots vs. monsters universe of the film. THE CHARACTERS Hunnam plays Raleigh Antrobus, a former soldier called back into action who partners with Rinko Kikuchi’s Mako Mori to co-pilot an obsolete Jaeger. “When you meet me in the beginning of the story I’ve suffered a giant loss, and not only has it killed my sense of self-worth, it’s also killed my will to fight and keep on going,” Hunnam explained. “Rinko and a couple of people bring me out of retirement to try to help in this grand push. And I think that journey is a very relatable one; I think everybody in their life has fallen down and not felt like getting back up, but you have to no matter how difficult it is.” Kikuchi, who earned an Oscar nomination for Babel and appeared in Rian Johnson’s Brothers Bloom , plays a newbie pilot who, like Raleigh, has also suffered great loss in her life. “The idea is that two people that are really, really hurt, can become one,” Del Toro said of the partnership between the two characters. “Both in the robot metaphorically, and in life. They meet when they’re two empty pieces and connect almost like a puzzle.” Making the leap to big screen action is Day ( It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia ), as Newt Gotlieb. “You need big tough guys and strong guys and the people that you believe could fight and save the world,” said Day, “and then in the case of my guy, you think, how does the sort of everyman who you’d think couldn’t fight his way out of a paper bag — how’s that guy going to contribute? What I think people will latch onto with my character is how flawed he is in his attempts to help save the world.” Rounding out the cast is Del Toro regular Perlman, whose Hannibal Chow is a black marketeer specializing in the illicit monster trade. “I have a relationship with the powers that be whereby I have the right to sell all these fallen monsters on the black market to rich people who have way too much money and are looking to collect rare and exotic, strange shit. So I have no moral compass, I have no scruples whatsoever — I’m just a profiteer, and in this case a war profiteer. But the war is not amongst countries, it’s a war against time for all of humanity.” THE SETS In his pursuit for realism, Del Toro approximated faux-oil-splattered lenses and imperfect camera work to add believability to the visual experience. That desire for verisimilitude extended to his sets — some of which were outfitted with their own systems of shocks to make real the sort of effects that might otherwise be achieved with CG. “We built a lot of things that were oversize and difficult in order to bring that tactile effect,” Del Toro explained. “We built a whole street of Tokyo and we rigged it with pneumatic shocks, so every time the monster took a step the whole street would vibrate and the cars would jump and the walls would shake and the lampposts would shake and the air conditioning units would fall.” THE ROBOTS With names like Crimson Typhoon and Cherno Alpha, the Jaegers of Pacific Rim are as tall as buildings and operate between two human pilots, connected by a neural link. “I wanted each robot to have a personality and for you to feel when the robot gets hurt, or when the robot wins,” said Del Toro. “I want to make the audience feel for those machines as much as they feel for the humans — and also, frankly, for the kaiju.” Del Toro and his team designed the robots with real world mechanics in mind, with parts that served practical functions. And when it came time to film, he called on his cast to jump into their rigs for the aforementioned “torture.” “The cockpit of the robot which is in the head, is almost three stories high,” described Del Toro. “And we mounted it on hydraulic shakers so in battle every time they got hit, it would really hit. And I wanted to do it with the actors, I didn’t want to do it with the doubles.” “The first time they were in,” he recalled, “Charlie came to visit the first group of actors — I won’t say who they were — and said, ‘Crybabies!’ This machine, which is the interface between the robots and them, flows with their bodies. It was a huge engineering feat. It was real. We could have done it CG, but why do that? [Laughs]” “Every guy broke. The only one that never complained was Rinko.” Stay tuned for Movieline’s chat with Rinko Kikuchi and read more from Comic-Con 2012 here . Follow Jen Yamato on Twitter . Follow Movieline on Twitter .
Also in Thursday morning’s round-up of news briefs, the upcoming Locarno Film Festival will honor Mexican actor Gael García Bernal. Is Warner Bros. taking on Instagram in the photo-sharing race? Also, some analysis offered up on today’s Emmy noms and Gwyneth Paltrow takes on a foodie indie. Robin Williams Joins The Butler and The Angriest Man in Brooklyn Williams will play President Dwight D. Eisenhower in Lee Daniel’s The Butler starring Forest Whitaker about a White House servant who served eight First Families over three decades. And he will star in the comedy The Angriest Man in Brooklyn opposite Mila Kunis, Peter Dinklage, Melissa Leo and James Earl Jones. The film is the story of a stand-in doctor who mistakenly tells an obnoxious patient he has 90 minutes to live. Gael García Bernal to Receive Locarno Honors The Mexican actor will receive an “Excellence Award” at the 65th Locarno Film Festival August 8th following a screening of his latest film, Pablo Larraín’s No . Charlotte Rampling will also receive an Excellence Award at the festival which takes place August 1 – 11. Past recipients include Oleg Menchikov, Susan Sarandon, John Malkovich, Willem Dafoe, Michel Piccoli, Carmen Maura, Toni Servillo, Chiara Mastroianni and las year, Isabelle Huppert. Warner Bros Sets Up New Photo Sharing Service Watch out Instagram? Warner Bros Technical Operations has launched outmywindow , which it touts as a “more personal way to share and save your photos” in which users can share images with specific friends and family through one-click permission-based albums. Around the ‘net… The Dark Knight Rises Takes $25M in Pre-Sales The Dark Knight remains the biggest 2-D North American opener at $158M and TDKR will likely best that by as much as $195M-plus, but now the question is, can it beat The Avengers box office busting $207.4M from 2-D, Digital 3-D, RealD and IMAX 3-D, Deadline reports . Emmys Shake Up Comedy But Nominees Contain Few Surprises “I wouldn’t say there were a lot of surprises on this morning’s Emmy nominations list although the comedy series categories offered a lot of fresh meat for the awards show, mostly supplied by HBO which came roaring back in series competition,” Pete Hammond offers awards analysis on Deadline. Gwyneth Paltrow to Star in Foodie Memoir Blood, Bones & Butter The actress and cookbook author is in talks to star in the indie film based on Gabrielle Hamilton’s 2011 book, which chronicles her unconventional background and her unorthodox journey to becoming a chef and owner of New York’s Prune restaurant in the East Village, THR reports .
In Monday morning’s round-up of news briefs, Oscar-winner Ernest Borgnine is remembered after he died over the weekend. Also, as awards season approaches, SAG opens up its submissions; Christopher Nolan gets his prints at Grauman’s Chinese; Michael Fassbender boards a franchise; Beasts still strong in the specialty box office and Norway’s The Almost Man wins a top film festival prize. Submissions for SAG Nominations Open Submissions for performances for consideration for the 19th annual Screen Actors Guild Awards are now open online at sagawards.org/submissions. For the first time, submissions will be accepted online only. Submissions are open through Thursday, October 25 at 5pm Pacific Time. Around the ‘net… RIP Ernest Borgnine Actor Ernest Borgnine, who won an Oscar for 1955’s Marty , playing a lovelorn butcher, died at the age of 95 his manager said Sunday. He gained a reputation playing heavies in early films From Here to Eternity , and Bad Day at Black Rock . He received three Emmys over his career, the most recent in 2009 for a guest spot on television’s ER , CNN reports . Deadline’s Pete Hammond also has a great remembrance of Borgnine, found here . Christopher Nolan Receives Rare Hollywood Honor Nolan had his hands and feet cemented at Hollywood’s Grauman’s Chinese Theater. At 41, he’s one of the youngest to receive the honor and out of 262 that have left their prints over 85 years, he’s only the eighth director to do so, Deadline reports . Fassbender Boards Assassins’ Creed Michael Fassbender will star and co-produce the big screen adaptation of Ubisoft’s video game franchise via his DMC Film label. The story centers on a man who finds out his ancestors were trained assassins after he is kidnapped by a mysterious group with ties to the Knights Templar, and sent back in time to retrieve historical artifacts, Variety reports . Beasts of the Southern Wild Still Strong in 2nd Weekend; Newcomers Soft: Specialty Box Office A trio of holdovers grabbed the bulk of specialty business this weekend, with Fox Searchlight’s Beasts Of The Southern Wild , Sony Classics’ To Rome With Love and Focus’ Moonrise Kingdom leading the pack. Three films, China Heavyweight from Zeitgeist, Magnolia’s The Magic Of Belle Isle and Red Flag’s The Do-Deca-Pentathlon reported numbers for their new, very limited rollouts, Deadline reports . Norway’s The Almost Man Takes Top Prize at Karlovy Vary International Film Festival Martin Lund’s character study of a man in his 30s grappling with aging won the Czech festival’s Gran Prix Crystal Award. The Almost Man star Henrik Rafaelsen won the Best Actor prize, while Iranian director Ali Mosaffa’s The Last Step took the FIPRESCI prize with the film’s Leila Hatami winning Best Actress. Susan Sarandon received a lifetime achievement award and dedicated the prize to Nora Ephron, tearfully calling her “my friend and wonderful director,” THR reports .
In Monday morning’s round-up of news briefs, Oscar-winner Ernest Borgnine is remembered after he died over the weekend. Also, as awards season approaches, SAG opens up its submissions; Christopher Nolan gets his prints at Grauman’s Chinese; Michael Fassbender boards a franchise; Beasts still strong in the specialty box office and Norway’s The Almost Man wins a top film festival prize. Submissions for SAG Nominations Open Submissions for performances for consideration for the 19th annual Screen Actors Guild Awards are now open online at sagawards.org/submissions. For the first time, submissions will be accepted online only. Submissions are open through Thursday, October 25 at 5pm Pacific Time. Around the ‘net… RIP Ernest Borgnine Actor Ernest Borgnine, who won an Oscar for 1955’s Marty , playing a lovelorn butcher, died at the age of 95 his manager said Sunday. He gained a reputation playing heavies in early films From Here to Eternity , and Bad Day at Black Rock . He received three Emmys over his career, the most recent in 2009 for a guest spot on television’s ER , CNN reports . Deadline’s Pete Hammond also has a great remembrance of Borgnine, found here . Christopher Nolan Receives Rare Hollywood Honor Nolan had his hands and feet cemented at Hollywood’s Grauman’s Chinese Theater. At 41, he’s one of the youngest to receive the honor and out of 262 that have left their prints over 85 years, he’s only the eighth director to do so, Deadline reports . Fassbender Boards Assassins’ Creed Michael Fassbender will star and co-produce the big screen adaptation of Ubisoft’s video game franchise via his DMC Film label. The story centers on a man who finds out his ancestors were trained assassins after he is kidnapped by a mysterious group with ties to the Knights Templar, and sent back in time to retrieve historical artifacts, Variety reports . Beasts of the Southern Wild Still Strong in 2nd Weekend; Newcomers Soft: Specialty Box Office A trio of holdovers grabbed the bulk of specialty business this weekend, with Fox Searchlight’s Beasts Of The Southern Wild , Sony Classics’ To Rome With Love and Focus’ Moonrise Kingdom leading the pack. Three films, China Heavyweight from Zeitgeist, Magnolia’s The Magic Of Belle Isle and Red Flag’s The Do-Deca-Pentathlon reported numbers for their new, very limited rollouts, Deadline reports . Norway’s The Almost Man Takes Top Prize at Karlovy Vary International Film Festival Martin Lund’s character study of a man in his 30s grappling with aging won the Czech festival’s Gran Prix Crystal Award. The Almost Man star Henrik Rafaelsen won the Best Actor prize, while Iranian director Ali Mosaffa’s The Last Step took the FIPRESCI prize with the film’s Leila Hatami winning Best Actress. Susan Sarandon received a lifetime achievement award and dedicated the prize to Nora Ephron, tearfully calling her “my friend and wonderful director,” THR reports .
Also in Tuesday afternoon’s round up of news briefs, Susan Sarandon will lend her voice to an R-rated stop-motion comedy; Marvel moves the dates of its untitled 2014 super-hero juggernaut and Hollywood production stays flat. Sharon Stone Joins Mother’s Day She joins Andie MacDowell and her real-life daughter who joined recently . Fittingly, the film is about the relationship between 12 mothers and their daughters, Deadline reports . Susan Sarandon Joins Hell & Back Sarandon will voice the role of Barb the Angel in the R-rated stop-motion comedy. The pic stars Nick Swardson and TJ Miller as friends who go down to rescue their pal who was accidentally dragged to hell, Deadline reports . The Complete Comic-Con Party Grid Parties, exhibitions, band performances, major geek-out sessions. They’re allegedly all here with times and locations nicely organized into a grid. Go get ’em. The Tracking Board has the info . Marvel Moves Untitled 2014 Superhero Pic from May to August Details about the project will be unveiled at the upcoming Comic-Con in San Diego. It is believed to The Guardians of the Galaxy , THR reports . Hollywood Production Flat with TV Decline A 9.1% increase in features and a 28% gain in commercial activity augmented a 15.4% drop in TV production in Los Angeles in the second quarter. Advocacy group FilmL.A. blamed state government for the decline in TV production, Variety reports .
Also in Monday morning’s round up of film news, more winners from the Edinburgh International Film Festival as well as fest news from Karlovy Vary and Shanghai.And Spider-Man opens overseas to some impressive numbers China’s Here, Then Takes Best Pic at Edinburgh Fest The feature by director Mao Mao won Best Film in the International Feature Competition, while One Mile Away by director Penny Woolcock won Best British Feature. Andrea Riseborough and Brid Brennan jointly won Best Performance in James Marsh’s Shadow Dancer . More awards from the Edinburgh International Film Festival can be found here . Around the ‘net… Beasts of the Southern Wild Ferocious; To Rome With Love Strong: Specialty Box Office After a slew of festival accolades including prizes at Sundance and Cannes, Beasts Of The Southern Wild swarmed the box office. With no stars and a first-time feature filmmaker, the pic nevertheless resonated with specialty audiences in-the-know. In New York and Los Angeles, the Louisiana Bayou-set film averaged an impressive $42,309 in four theaters, Deadline reports . Spider-Man Opens Overseas with $52.2M The pic opened in 13 overseas markets in Asia and Europe, out-performing even The Avengers in some countries including India, Deadline reports . Pulled Film Reinstated at Karlovy Vary Film Festival The world premiere of director Sara Csehalmi’s Dear Betrayed Friends had been taken out of the Czech Republic’s Karlovy Vary Film Festival’s East of the West competition when post production funds ran out. The cancellation sparked a debate in Hungary where film productions have suffered recently, THR reports . Shanghai Fest Reflects Growing Biz Local businesses are concerned about growing competition from Hollywood. The Shanghai Film Festival had one of its biggest editions in 15 years. 300 domestic and foreign-produced films screened in 33 cinemas, Variety reports .
Also in Friday morning’s news round up, it looks like the next round of Hunger Games cast is shaping up. Psychological thriller Gut gets a digital distribution home and perhaps not exactly film-direct news, but the Supreme Court refused to hear an appeal from the FCC over that Janet Jackson “wardrobe malfunction” back in 2004… Frankenweenie Will Open Fantastic Fest The world premiere of Tim Burton’s latest will launch the annual genre-heavy Fantastic Fest September 20th in Austin, TX. The Disney film revolves around a boy who “unexpectedly losing his beloved dog Sparky, young Victor harnesses the power of science to bring his best friend back to life-with just a few minor adjustments. He tries to hide his home-sewn creation, but when Sparky gets out, Victor’s fellow students, teachers and the entire town all learn that getting a new “leash on life” can be monstrous.” Around the ‘net… Ted and Magic Mike Launch with $2M-plus Midnights Ted debuted at $2.625M from midnight screenings at 1,090 theaters, while stripper show Magic Mike grossed $2.050M from one show at midnight in 1,100 theaters, Deadline reports . Hunger Games Sequel Eyes Zoe Aggeliki for Key Role Newcomer Zoe Aggeliki appears to have won out for the central role of Johanna Mason, an ax-welding winner of a past Hunger Games who will appear in Lionsgate’s sequel The Hunger Games Catching Fire , Deadline reports . Cinetic Gets Gut for North America Digital distribution rights for psychological thriller Gut have been nabbed by Cinetic Rights Management. The feature revolves around a deteriorating friendship of two best friends when one gets ahold of an anonymous video that quickly threatens to dismantle everything around them, binding the two friends together with its ugly secret, Variety reports . Supreme Court Won’t Hear ‘Wardrobe Malfunction’ Appeal The U.S. high court will not consider reinstating the government’s $550K fine on CBS for Janet Jackson’s infamous breast flash during the 2004 Super Bowl. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) had appealed, AP reports .
