Well, maybe Brad Pitt won’t save all of us. As you can see in the first full trailer for Marc Forster’s big-budget action pic World War Z (via Apple), a few billion Earthlings will kick the bucket (but will probably reanimate, so there’s that) when the undead rise against us. Watch the trailer to get a look at Pitt’s shaggy-maned family man hero, who must to leave his wife (Mireille Enos) and their kids to go fight the zombie apocalypse for the sake of humanity in next summer’s World War Z . Head to Apple for the trailer debut. The full trailer has me breathing a sigh of relief after this week’s rather underwhelming trailer tease ; I can get used to World War Z ‘s superfast undead swarms, pouring through streets and leaping like lemmings off of buildings chasing desperately after Pitt’s delicious, delicious body. I mean brain. Or whatever these zombies eat. It must be high in protein to keep this kind of zombie metabolism going. Despite the departures from the book that will have lit fans up in arms, and the vaguely I Am Legend / War of the Worlds vibe this gives off, World War Z has me excited to see Pitt as an action hero. And how great is it that he’s doing a rare action turn while looking like a long-haired crunchy hippie dad? World War Z hits theaters June 21, 2013. How’s it look to you, Movieliners? Follow Jen Yamato on Twitter . Follow Movieline on Twitter .
Gabriela Pichler’s Eat Sleep Die won the Gand Jury Award, at AFI Fest Thursday afternoon, while A Royal Affair by Nikolaj Arcel won the Audience Award in the World Cinema section. Danish filmmaker Tobias Lindholm won the Audience Award among the fest’s list of New Auteurs and Only the Young by Jason Tippet received the audience prize among its “Young Americans.” David Tosh Gitonga took the Audience nod for “Breakthrough” for Nairobi Half Life . “It has been an incredible year in film and we’re grateful for having had the opportunity to showcase so many wonderful films,” said Jacqueline Lyanga, Director of AFI Fest in a statement. “Our desire is to have these films reach an even wider audience after these eight festival days, and that our jury and audience awards contribute to building an audience for these films.” AFI Fest closes out Thursday night with the World Premiere of Steven Spielberg’s Lincoln . AFI Fest 2012 Winners Jury Awards, New Auteurs (with descriptions provided by AFI Fest): Grand Jury Award: Eat Sleep Die by Gabriela Pichler Description: A Montenegrin-born young woman living in rural Sweden, Raša is laid off from her job at a food-packing plant. Her ensuing job search pulls us through the maze of limited prospects and frustrating bureaucracy facing the country’s working immigrant population. Affable, resilient, street smart and soft-hearted, Raša’s natural magnetism draws us in completely. We feel every ounce of her disappointment, fear and elation as she soldiers on, looking for work. An Audience Award winner at the Venice Film Festival, Eat Sleep Die ‘s assured naturalism and political conviction single out Pichler as a bold, exciting new cinematic voice. Special Mention for Performance: Simon Killer ‘s (DIR Antonio Campos) Mati Diop for “her contribution to Simon Killer as both an actress and screenwriter.” Description: follows recent graduate Simon as he travels to Paris to escape the fallout from a former relationship. No matter how hard he tries, Simon can’t seem to shake the past and feelings of lost love. Instead, he fills his days traveling the streets and taking in the sites, while composing letters to his ex-girlfriend, engaging in chat room sex and hitting on girls in the streets. When he meets a beautiful prostitute and falls in love, everything begins to unravel and we discover that Simon is harboring some dark secrets. Special Mention: Here and There by Antonio Mendez Esparza Description: After many years in New York, Pedro returns home to Guerrero, Mexico, to an overwhelmed wife and daughters he barely knows. Pedro struggles to secure a job in town and establish his place as the head of the household. Just as the family begins to regain their balance, Pedro and his wife Teresa are thrown into turmoil, facing a difficult pregnancy and the prospect of a new child. Audience Awards (with descriptions provided by the festival) World Cinema: A Royal Affair . DIR Nikolaj Arcel. Denmark/Sweden/Czech Republic/Germany. Description: In the age of enlightenment, a young woman becomes Queen of Denmark via an arranged marriage, but shortly after the ceremony it becomes clear that the young king suffers from mental illness. German physician and philosopher Johan Struensee is called to attend the unstable King and an epic romance results between the doctor and the queen, giving Johan the power to make transformational social changes within the Danish kingdom. Based on a true story, A Royal Affair is Denmark’s official submission for Academy Award consideration. New Auteurs: A Hijacking . DIR Tobias Lindholm. Denmark. Description: One mistake can mean life or death to the crew on board a Danish ship taken hostage by Somali pirates. In Denmark, the shipping company’s CEO boldly ignores advice from a hostage negotiator and speaks on the phone directly with the pirate’s translator, Omar. Conditions worsen on the claustrophobic ship as the psychological pressure intensifies and months pass while negotiations continue. Shifting from the chaotic conditions onboard to the offices of the Danish shipping company, A Hijacking skillfully examines the art of bargaining in this fraught, high-pressure drama. Young Americans: Only The Young . DIR Jason Tippet, Elizabeth Mims. USA. Description: North of Los Angeles stands the city of Santa Clarita, where once-affluent neighborhoods now buckle under the strain of economic recession. Inside one of the town’s vacant houses, teenagers Garrison Saenz and Kevin Conway build a skateboard ramp in an empty room. The two best friends — punkish and no strangers to rowdy behavior — are as devoted to preaching the Gospel as they are to the half-pipe. Add to the mix Garrison’s on-again, off-again girlfriend Skye, a whip-smart, devout Christian facing a devastating foreclosure on her home; and Kristen, Garrison’s liberal-thinking, hip-hop dancing possible new paramour and you’ve got enough teen love, happiness and heartache to fill a deeply affecting screenplay. Breakthrough: Nairobi Half Life . DIR David Tosh Gitonga. Kenya/Germany. Description: Despite his parents’ wishes, Mwas leaves his small village and embarks on a journey to Kenya’s capital in order to pursue a career in acting. Naïve and filled with hope, he quickly learns why the city is nicknamed “Nairobbery.” A few innocent mistakes land him in jail, which eventually leads Mwas to connect with a gang. Although he learns how to survive in the dangerous and sprawling urban center, Mwas is torn between his new lifestyle of theft and violence and his dream of becoming an actor. Grand Jury Awards, Live Action and Animated Short – AFI Fest Grand Jury Award winners in the Live Action and Animated Shorts categories as qualifiers for the annual Academy Awards Short Film category. Grand Jury Award, Live Action Short: Introducing Bobby by Roger Hayn “for crafting an honest vision of America by making an insightful portrayal of a single man.” Grand Jury Award, Animated Short: Oh Willy… by Emma De Swaef and Marc Roels “for melding a dynamic narrative with innovative animation style that leads the viewer to pure wonderment.” Special Jury Award for Animation: Belly by Julia Pott “for its personal touch to technique and playful storytelling that is a welcome addition to the pantheon of animation.” Special Jury Award for Documentary Filmmaking: Whateverest by Kristoffer Borgli “for constructing a film that contextualizes the digital generation and reflects on what happens when we turn the camera onto ourselves.” Honorable Mention for Performance: Narcocorrido (DIR Ryan Prows) for Raul Castillo’s “penetrating lead performance that conveys a sense of loss that leaves a lasting mark on the audience.” Honorable Mention for Promising Vision: Dogs Are Said to See Things by Guto Parente “for pulling together social criticism with a pool party and actually making something fresh and smart.”
Gabriela Pichler’s Eat Sleep Die won the Gand Jury Award, at AFI Fest Thursday afternoon, while A Royal Affair by Nikolaj Arcel won the Audience Award in the World Cinema section. Danish filmmaker Tobias Lindholm won the Audience Award among the fest’s list of New Auteurs and Only the Young by Jason Tippet received the audience prize among its “Young Americans.” David Tosh Gitonga took the Audience nod for “Breakthrough” for Nairobi Half Life . “It has been an incredible year in film and we’re grateful for having had the opportunity to showcase so many wonderful films,” said Jacqueline Lyanga, Director of AFI Fest in a statement. “Our desire is to have these films reach an even wider audience after these eight festival days, and that our jury and audience awards contribute to building an audience for these films.” AFI Fest closes out Thursday night with the World Premiere of Steven Spielberg’s Lincoln . AFI Fest 2012 Winners Jury Awards, New Auteurs (with descriptions provided by AFI Fest): Grand Jury Award: Eat Sleep Die by Gabriela Pichler Description: A Montenegrin-born young woman living in rural Sweden, Raša is laid off from her job at a food-packing plant. Her ensuing job search pulls us through the maze of limited prospects and frustrating bureaucracy facing the country’s working immigrant population. Affable, resilient, street smart and soft-hearted, Raša’s natural magnetism draws us in completely. We feel every ounce of her disappointment, fear and elation as she soldiers on, looking for work. An Audience Award winner at the Venice Film Festival, Eat Sleep Die ‘s assured naturalism and political conviction single out Pichler as a bold, exciting new cinematic voice. Special Mention for Performance: Simon Killer ‘s (DIR Antonio Campos) Mati Diop for “her contribution to Simon Killer as both an actress and screenwriter.” Description: follows recent graduate Simon as he travels to Paris to escape the fallout from a former relationship. No matter how hard he tries, Simon can’t seem to shake the past and feelings of lost love. Instead, he fills his days traveling the streets and taking in the sites, while composing letters to his ex-girlfriend, engaging in chat room sex and hitting on girls in the streets. When he meets a beautiful prostitute and falls in love, everything begins to unravel and we discover that Simon is harboring some dark secrets. Special Mention: Here and There by Antonio Mendez Esparza Description: After many years in New York, Pedro returns home to Guerrero, Mexico, to an overwhelmed wife and daughters he barely knows. Pedro struggles to secure a job in town and establish his place as the head of the household. Just as the family begins to regain their balance, Pedro and his wife Teresa are thrown into turmoil, facing a difficult pregnancy and the prospect of a new child. Audience Awards (with descriptions provided by the festival) World Cinema: A Royal Affair . DIR Nikolaj Arcel. Denmark/Sweden/Czech Republic/Germany. Description: In the age of enlightenment, a young woman becomes Queen of Denmark via an arranged marriage, but shortly after the ceremony it becomes clear that the young king suffers from mental illness. German physician and philosopher Johan Struensee is called to attend the unstable King and an epic romance results between the doctor and the queen, giving Johan the power to make transformational social changes within the Danish kingdom. Based on a true story, A Royal Affair is Denmark’s official submission for Academy Award consideration. New Auteurs: A Hijacking . DIR Tobias Lindholm. Denmark. Description: One mistake can mean life or death to the crew on board a Danish ship taken hostage by Somali pirates. In Denmark, the shipping company’s CEO boldly ignores advice from a hostage negotiator and speaks on the phone directly with the pirate’s translator, Omar. Conditions worsen on the claustrophobic ship as the psychological pressure intensifies and months pass while negotiations continue. Shifting from the chaotic conditions onboard to the offices of the Danish shipping company, A Hijacking skillfully examines the art of bargaining in this fraught, high-pressure drama. Young Americans: Only The Young . DIR Jason Tippet, Elizabeth Mims. USA. Description: North of Los Angeles stands the city of Santa Clarita, where once-affluent neighborhoods now buckle under the strain of economic recession. Inside one of the town’s vacant houses, teenagers Garrison Saenz and Kevin Conway build a skateboard ramp in an empty room. The two best friends — punkish and no strangers to rowdy behavior — are as devoted to preaching the Gospel as they are to the half-pipe. Add to the mix Garrison’s on-again, off-again girlfriend Skye, a whip-smart, devout Christian facing a devastating foreclosure on her home; and Kristen, Garrison’s liberal-thinking, hip-hop dancing possible new paramour and you’ve got enough teen love, happiness and heartache to fill a deeply affecting screenplay. Breakthrough: Nairobi Half Life . DIR David Tosh Gitonga. Kenya/Germany. Description: Despite his parents’ wishes, Mwas leaves his small village and embarks on a journey to Kenya’s capital in order to pursue a career in acting. Naïve and filled with hope, he quickly learns why the city is nicknamed “Nairobbery.” A few innocent mistakes land him in jail, which eventually leads Mwas to connect with a gang. Although he learns how to survive in the dangerous and sprawling urban center, Mwas is torn between his new lifestyle of theft and violence and his dream of becoming an actor. Grand Jury Awards, Live Action and Animated Short – AFI Fest Grand Jury Award winners in the Live Action and Animated Shorts categories as qualifiers for the annual Academy Awards Short Film category. Grand Jury Award, Live Action Short: Introducing Bobby by Roger Hayn “for crafting an honest vision of America by making an insightful portrayal of a single man.” Grand Jury Award, Animated Short: Oh Willy… by Emma De Swaef and Marc Roels “for melding a dynamic narrative with innovative animation style that leads the viewer to pure wonderment.” Special Jury Award for Animation: Belly by Julia Pott “for its personal touch to technique and playful storytelling that is a welcome addition to the pantheon of animation.” Special Jury Award for Documentary Filmmaking: Whateverest by Kristoffer Borgli “for constructing a film that contextualizes the digital generation and reflects on what happens when we turn the camera onto ourselves.” Honorable Mention for Performance: Narcocorrido (DIR Ryan Prows) for Raul Castillo’s “penetrating lead performance that conveys a sense of loss that leaves a lasting mark on the audience.” Honorable Mention for Promising Vision: Dogs Are Said to See Things by Guto Parente “for pulling together social criticism with a pool party and actually making something fresh and smart.”
It’s easy to draw parallels to President Obama in Steven Spielberg ’s historical Oscar hopeful Lincoln , a portrait of the 16th American President who stood tall, orated well, united a divided nation across color and party lines, and was re-elected to office for a second term. But Spielberg insists he had no specific political agenda in mind when the long-gestating Lincoln came to fruition. “I would have been very glad to have made Lincoln in the year 2000,” Spielberg explained recently in Los Angeles, “the year after I met [author Doris Kearns Goodwin, whose book Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln was adapted by Lincoln scribe Tony Kushner]. It took her a couple years to write the book. It took us more than a couple years to get the screenplay written. So, I wasn’t waiting for a certain time.” The divided politics of Lincoln’s presidency, as explored at length in Spielberg’s film, find pointed parallels in President Obama’s tenure in the White House: A President with a humanistic streak tasked with bringing war to an end, Lincoln is depicted wrestling with military crises, huge wartime losses of life, moral questions of personal freedoms, Constitutional history-making, all-too eager rivals, and, notably, his own family issues at home. Still, Spielberg says the Obama-Lincoln parallels have nothing to do with it. “At one point I flirted with coming out on the 200th anniversary of Lincoln’s birth, but we weren’t ready to make the picture then,” said Spielberg, who spent years wooing star Daniel Day-Lewis and had even resigned himself to not making Lincoln without the actor. “People say ‘Oh, you made it because of what’s happening in politics today.’ No, we were ready to make it during the Bush administration. It had had nothing to do current politics.” That’s not to say no inference at all should be drawn into Lincoln ’s messaging as a reflection of modern politics; it’s just that, despite “tremendous similarities” between politics in the time of Lincoln and today, reading too much into the details might be confusing because of how much the intervening 14 decades have altered America’s political system. “There’s a lot of confusion about the political ideologies of both parties, [which] have switched 180 degrees in 150 years,” he explained. “It’s just too confusing. Everybody claims Lincoln as their own. And everybody should claim Lincoln as their own, because he represents all of us, and what he did basically provided the opportunities that, that all of us are enjoying today.” So while a theatrical release on Friday should bring President Lincoln and his legend to vivid life in the wake of Tuesday’s Obama re-election, those few extra buffer days allowed Spielberg to get some distance from the real-life Presidential race. “I just wanted people to talk about the film, not talk about the election cycle. So I thought it was safer to let people talk about film during the election cycle in this run-up with ads on TV and posters going up and all that, but the actual debut of the film should happen after the election’s been decided. That was my feeling.” Despite peeling the curtain back on Lincoln — the film reveals intimate glimpses of his home life and career, but leaves ambiguous the fringe theories of his sexuality, as hinted at by Kushner in an interview with Metro — Spielberg is happy to continue letting people talk and wonder at any deeper messages seeded within what he otherwise says was meant only to be a portrait of a great figure in American history. “I’m really excited to see how deeply people will reach to contemporize our film,” he said with a smile, “far beyond how it deserves to be contemporized.” Read more on Lincoln , in select theaters Friday . Lincoln closes the 2012 AFI Fest on Thursday. Follow Jen Yamato on Twitter . Follow Movieline on Twitter .
AFI Fest has been underway for nearly a week with a mixture of Galas, free screenings and other events, but last night it slowed its heavy rotation of movies and activities to watch returns in what can be best described as a mostly liberal party at the festival’s Cinema Lounge at the Roosevelt Hotel in Hollywood. Shouts, applause and flailing victory high-fives mounted as returns came in on a big screen first tuned to CNN, but then changed to NBC when the news network seemed to be behind in their projections. Outside the hotel, a lone anti-Obama protestor made his passions against gay marriage, “that Muslim Obama ” and liberals in general as festival-goers headed in for the mostly open party. Inside, the political equation, perhaps not surprisingly, leaned left though there were noticeably mostly quiet individuals politely sitting with long faces as Obama’s victory seemed assured. Instead of trying to compete with what was a big night in the making, the festival decided to capitalize on it and turn it into a big event, complete with mostly open bar, sliders, pigs in a blanket, desserts and other treats. “When we set our dates last year, we knew the election would fall during the festival and we’re not going to try and compete with the election,” AFI Fest Director Jacqueline Lyanga told ML Tuesday night at the Roosevelt. “We’re all movie lovers, but at the same time, we’re all passionate citizens and so we wanted to find a way that people can come to the festival and see movies, but still be a part of the process. So we wanted to encourage people to get out to vote, so we didn’t have as packed of a film schedule today – we screened far fewer films today.” In keeping with the festival’s mostly egalitarian approach – for the fourth year running, all festival screenings are free – anyone including patrons on down to free ticket holders were invited into the evening to watch the returns and enjoying sponsored free of charge food and drink. The event last night appeared to be a hit and the final victory sent most people into a group cheer. A group of filmmakers and festival organizers from Ohio, which gave Obama the final win, were especially elated. “We invited in pass holders but also anyone who has a ticket from a movie from this week,” said Lyanga. “It’s great because it brings together filmmakers, pass holders, our patrons and the free ticket holders and celebrate the electoral process together. But while we’re here talking about politics, I’m also getting into conversations about cinema and getting to know our audience in a way that I wouldn’t be able to do otherwise.” Lyanga plugged this year’s event saying attendance has been strong across the board. The event opened last week with Hitchcock and the festival has played host to a wide-range of Galas including On the Road from Walter Salles, Olivier Assayas’ Something in the Air , Jacques Audiard’s Rust and Bone and more. It will close out Thursday night with the premiere of Steven Spielberg’s Lincoln . And while the big Grauman’s Chinese premieres have, as might be expected, drawn crowds and gawkers, smaller more challenging content have also been well attended, no doubt encouraged by the free ticketing. “For Kim Ki-duk’s Pieta we had to turn people away,” noted Lyanga “As a programmer, that’s extraordinary to see people be as excited as you’ve been about them for the past eight or nine months. We’re really building an audience of cinephiles. It’s a blending of older fans and newer younger fans.” Continuing, Lyanga added: “I think New York has always been a city that has had a vibrant art house audience and it’s great to now see that L.A. also has that. It encourages more filmmakers and distributors to take a chance on LA. It’s still a tough market, but this festival has given encouragement to the art house in Los Angeles.”
AFI Fest has been underway for nearly a week with a mixture of Galas, free screenings and other events, but last night it slowed its heavy rotation of movies and activities to watch returns in what can be best described as a mostly liberal party at the festival’s Cinema Lounge at the Roosevelt Hotel in Hollywood. Shouts, applause and flailing victory high-fives mounted as returns came in on a big screen first tuned to CNN, but then changed to NBC when the news network seemed to be behind in their projections. Outside the hotel, a lone anti-Obama protestor made his passions against gay marriage, “that Muslim Obama ” and liberals in general as festival-goers headed in for the mostly open party. Inside, the political equation, perhaps not surprisingly, leaned left though there were noticeably mostly quiet individuals politely sitting with long faces as Obama’s victory seemed assured. Instead of trying to compete with what was a big night in the making, the festival decided to capitalize on it and turn it into a big event, complete with mostly open bar, sliders, pigs in a blanket, desserts and other treats. “When we set our dates last year, we knew the election would fall during the festival and we’re not going to try and compete with the election,” AFI Fest Director Jacqueline Lyanga told ML Tuesday night at the Roosevelt. “We’re all movie lovers, but at the same time, we’re all passionate citizens and so we wanted to find a way that people can come to the festival and see movies, but still be a part of the process. So we wanted to encourage people to get out to vote, so we didn’t have as packed of a film schedule today – we screened far fewer films today.” In keeping with the festival’s mostly egalitarian approach – for the fourth year running, all festival screenings are free – anyone including patrons on down to free ticket holders were invited into the evening to watch the returns and enjoying sponsored free of charge food and drink. The event last night appeared to be a hit and the final victory sent most people into a group cheer. A group of filmmakers and festival organizers from Ohio, which gave Obama the final win, were especially elated. “We invited in pass holders but also anyone who has a ticket from a movie from this week,” said Lyanga. “It’s great because it brings together filmmakers, pass holders, our patrons and the free ticket holders and celebrate the electoral process together. But while we’re here talking about politics, I’m also getting into conversations about cinema and getting to know our audience in a way that I wouldn’t be able to do otherwise.” Lyanga plugged this year’s event saying attendance has been strong across the board. The event opened last week with Hitchcock and the festival has played host to a wide-range of Galas including On the Road from Walter Salles, Olivier Assayas’ Something in the Air , Jacques Audiard’s Rust and Bone and more. It will close out Thursday night with the premiere of Steven Spielberg’s Lincoln . And while the big Grauman’s Chinese premieres have, as might be expected, drawn crowds and gawkers, smaller more challenging content have also been well attended, no doubt encouraged by the free ticketing. “For Kim Ki-duk’s Pieta we had to turn people away,” noted Lyanga “As a programmer, that’s extraordinary to see people be as excited as you’ve been about them for the past eight or nine months. We’re really building an audience of cinephiles. It’s a blending of older fans and newer younger fans.” Continuing, Lyanga added: “I think New York has always been a city that has had a vibrant art house audience and it’s great to now see that L.A. also has that. It encourages more filmmakers and distributors to take a chance on LA. It’s still a tough market, but this festival has given encouragement to the art house in Los Angeles.”
A bit high-pitched and shrill, the few audiences that have seen Lincoln ahead of its World Premiere next month at AFI Fest may have been surprised by the voice of America’s 16th President as played by Daniel Day-Lewis . The two-time Oscar-winner made a rare public appearance speaking before a small audience presented by Time Magazine in New York Thursday. The actor, who appeared along with Steven Spielberg , spoke in his native British accent, which was in audible contrast to his latest on-screen character. Many assume Lincoln spoke in a blaring baritone, though Lewis explained that that myth is likely untrue. “Well you look for the clues, as with any aspect of the work,” he said of finding the voice. “You begin with the places that would have made a huge difference in his life. Kentucky, Indiana and Illinois, and the counties that he came from. There are some early recordings, but no contemporary recordings — lucky for me, so no one can say positively that it’s not what he sounded like,” said Lewis as quoted in THR . He surmised that the Civil War President’s pitch aided him and his oratory skills in reaching a higher number of people in an era well ahead anything resembling public address systems. “There are also a number of contemporary accounts about the quality of his voice,” Day-Lewis said. “And I’m inclined to think that having had a voice that was intended to be in the higher register, tended to be placed more in the head tones, that helped him reach a greater number of people in his public speaking. Stump speaking was such a huge part of their lives, they spoke sometimes for two hours or more without notes, at that time regularly. And beyond that, I suppose it really was just an act of imagination.” Lincoln centers on the period after Lincoln’s re-election in 1864 in the months leading up to his death in April of the following year, when he struggled to get the 13th Amendment passed by the House of Representatives. The Amendment abolished slavery once and for all in the United States. Though he had ordered the Emancipation Proclamation earlier, Lincoln feared the provision would only be held up as a “war power” and would become redundant after the war’s end — meaning, those legally freed would be immediately sent back into servitude. Lewis also said it took him a good year to get “comfortable with his character.” Spielberg said at the event he didn’t like the idea of waiting that long, but he is glad he did so. He also offered up his take on the Lincoln voice at a separate NYC screening event at the recent New York Film Festival. “Research talks about his high shrill voice,” Spielberg said. “I think we’d be criticized if we did it the way he’s heard by Disney’s Epcot Center with a low-tenored voice.” [ Source: THR ]
A decent weekend overall, Paranormal Activity 4 lead the pack though its debut came in rather slow compared to previous installments. Argo held strong in its second weekend, showing word-of-mouth is cementing its box office prowess, while Hotel Transylvania , Taken 2 and Alex Cross rounded out the top five at the weekend box office. 1. Paranormal Activity 4 Gross: $30.2 million Screens: 3,412 (PSA: $8,851) Week: 1 The latest installment of Paranormal Activity lead a robust box office weekend. Still, it debuted comparatively lower to last year’s Paranormal Activity 3 , which opened with over $52.5 million in 3,321 theaters and a $15,829 average. Paranormal Activity 2 bowed with just under $40.7 million its opening weekend in October of 2010, averaging $12,649. 2. Argo Gross: $16,625,000 (Cume: $43,191,489) Screens: 3,247 (PSA: $5,120) Week: 2 (Change: – 14.6%) Debuting second to Taken 2 last week, Ben Affleck’s Oscar-buzzed political thriller held strong adding just 15 more theaters in its second run, holding solidly in the number two position again. Word-of-mouth is clearly propelling the title as it continues its run. 3. Hotel Transylvania Gross: $13.5 million (Cume: $119 million) Screens: 3,384 (PSA: $3,989)a Week: 4 (Change: – 21.7%) One month into release, the animated title is holding strong. It placed fourth in its third weekend and managed to up one spot in its fourth weekend out. The title added nine theaters in its fourth run. Last weekend the title grossed $17.3 million. 4. Taken 2 Gross: $13.4 million (Cume: $105,971,000) Screens: 3,489 (PSA: $3,841) Week: 3 (Change: – 38%) The number one film when it debuted, it tumbled over 55% in its second weekend, but managed to stem the fall a bit in the current round. The pic lost 217 theaters compared to the previous weekend and dropped from 1st to 4th place. 5. Alex Cross Gross: $11.75 million Screens: 2,539 (PSA: $4,628) Week: 1 Word had given the title based on crime novel I Alex Cross by James Patterson reaching the $20 million mark in its debut. Its the lowest debut for a movie starring Tyler Perry and it compares to a $13.2 million debut for Alex Cross title Kiss the Girls at $13.2 million and $16.7 million for Along Came a Spider . 6. Sinister Gross: $9.03 million (Cume: $31,950,168) Screens: 2,542 (PSA: $3,552) Week: 2 (Change: – 49.9%) The title had a hefty nearly 50% fall from its initial run, but it should be noted that it also faced a new challenger in the form of Paranormal Activity 4 . 7. Here Comes The Boom Gross: $8.5 million (Cume: $23,224,328) Screens: 3,014 (PSA: $2,820) Week: 2 (Change: – 28.1%) The title placed seventh after debuting in fifth place and held at the same number of theaters. Its 28% drop shows some momentum. It averaged $3,981 in its bow. 8. Pitch Perfect Gross: $7,009,100 (Cume: $45,769,448) Screens: 2,660 (PSA: $2,635) Week: 4 (Change: – 24.4%) The title dropped two places from its third weekend sixth position, but its b.o. change of just under 25% was much less steep than its 37.6 per cent drop from its third weekend. The title lost 127 theaters from the previous week. 9. Frankenweenie Gross: $4,434,000 (Cume: $28,343,000) Screens: 2,362 (PSA: $1,877) Week: 3 (Change: – 37%) Tim Burton’s latest stop motion animation had only a slightly lower drop in its third weekend than last week. It lost 643 locations, after holding in 3,005 theaters in its first two weeks. Last weekend it averaged $2,348 and debuted with a rather weak $3,798. 10. Looper Gross: $4.2 million (Cume: $57,840,132) Screens: 2,223 (PSA: $1,889) Week: 4 (Change: – 32.3%) The drop in receipts was less than the previous weekend’s nearly 50% drop and the film’s second run drop of nearly 42%. Looper lost 382 theaters in its fourth weekend. [ Sources: Box Office Mojo , Rentrak ]
Also in Monday morning’s round-up of news briefs: The deadline looms for the 19th Screen Actors Guild Awards consideration. Tim Burton and Helena Bonham Carter receive London Fest honors; And a Chinese-Japan row over uninhabited islands spills into the Tokyo International Film Festival. Sundance London To Return for 2nd Round The Sundance London Music and Film Festival will return again next year and 2014. The second Sundance London will take place from 25-28 April, 2013, and host the international and UK premieres of American independent films fresh from the 2013 Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah as well as live music performances, panels and events. The 2013 program will continue its 2012 focus on presenting new work by American filmmakers and music artists. Sundance Institute, which annually presents the Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah, will select the films and related programming. Screen Actors Guild Deadline Loom Acting submissions for this year’s 19th Screen Actors Awards consideration is fast approaching. Submissions must be turned in by Thursday October 25th at 5pm PDT. For the first time, submissions are only accepted online . Around the ‘net… Specialty Box Office: The Sessions Tops Debuts; Holy Motors , Brooklyn Castle , The Flat Solid Fox Searchlight’s highly anticipated The Sessions starring John Hawkes, Helen Hunt and William H. Macy debuted with a robust $30,100 average in its four-theater run in New York and Los Angeles, by far topping newbies in the specialty arena, in another crowded field of newcomers, Deadline reports . Jeffrey Katzenberg and Steven Spielberg Donate $1M Each to Obama Super PAC A filing to the Federal Elections Commission show the Oscar-winning filmmaker and DreamWorlds Animation CEO made their donations, one of the largest to the Obama campaign, on September 24th, Deadline reports . Tim Burton Honored at London Film Festival “It’s good because there’s no jealousy at home,” partner Helena Bonham Carter who also received an award said. “It’s very thoughtful for them to give us both one at the same time,” BBC reports . Tokyo International Film Festival to Screen Feng Shui Despite Official Withdrawl The Chinese film was withdrawn from the Japanese festival and director Wang Jing and actor Jiao Gang canceled their visits due to political tensions between the two Asian giants. But the Monday night screening went on as planned, THR reports .
Jaws , Indiana Jones , Jurassic Park – Steven Spielberg has set the bar for the worldwide blockbuster. Sure, he’s taken praise for other genre as well, including his Best Director win for Schindler’s List (and another for Saving Private Ryan five years later). On the cusp of his Lincoln premiere for the closing night of the AFI Fest next month, the wildly successful director-producer-writer said he is “no longer attracted” to action films, even as some are on his plate. CBS’ 60 Minutes spotlighted the director and his latest Oscar-buzzed film, which had a sneak “work-in-progress” screening at the recent New York Film Festival. The filmmaker reiterated what many of those first crowds said about the film, describing it as less action-packed than many of his previous titles. “I knew I could do the action in my sleep at this point in my career,” he said. “In my life, the action doesn’t hold any … it doesn’t attract me any more.” Was that a possible moment of exuberation considering the feature is widely tipped to be a mass contender this awards season? Spielberg, however, is set to direct Sci-Fi thriller Robopocalypse , which is set in the aftermath of a robot uprising and a quick check of his IMDb page has him set to direct a possible Indiana Jones 5 . Also during the segments on the popular long-running Sunday night news program that his latest, about the 16th President of the United States, focusing on the last months of his Administration when he and abolitionists labored to pass the 13th Amendment soon after his re-election on the waning days of the Civil War, was partly inspired by a reconciliation with his father. “[President Lincoln] was the father of the nation in need of repair,” said Spielberg. “And in a sense, the movies I’ve made recently have reflected the positive relationships that my dad and I have enjoyed for 20 [to] 25 years.” “I was an outsider. The kid that played clarinet at band, which I did,” said Spielberg, who shared that he was bullied at school. He dealt with severe anti-Semitic attacks at school and said he denied his Jewishness for “a long time.” While his mother noted during the interview that he and his father were not close, it was in fact his dad who gave him something that would change his life – a camera. Though his parents later divorced when his mother left after falling for her husband’s friend, Spielberg didn’t know for years the circumstances of their break-up. He idolized his mother and used his sentiment, channeling it to the maternal character Dee Wallace in E.T. In Schindler’s List , Spielberg said, “I did everything I needed to do to tell the story the way I thought the story should be told, to give it as much integrity as I could, never expecting it to make a dollar. The film went on to deliver a worldwide box office haul of $321million and win best picture and director Oscars at the 1994 Academy Awards.” It was his turn at facing down the anti-Semitism he felt growing up. In his latest, starring Daniel Day-Lewis, Spielberg researched for the topic for 12 years. “I think the film is very relevant to today. It’s about leadership. And it’s about telling the truth. I think there was a sense of darkness for him…He had to end slavery and abolish the war. And there was darkness in his personal life.” [ Sources: The Guardian , CBS 60 Minutes ]
