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Oliver Stone Lights Up for Some Good Ole High Times

HIGH Times has been a purveyor of – well – high times for years now and it’s high time, apparently, that one high-profile fan of the illegal-ish botanic blazon its cover with his famous image. Oliver Stone will grace the cover of the magazine in the August 2012 issue, just in time for the magazine’s new editor-in-chief to settle in at his new post – quite a coup! Always the classy guy, stone takes a toke dressed in his red carpet best tux and shares with HIGH Tmes about his new film Savages while also taking a dig at American foreign intervention and the ongoing global drug war. And the three-time Oscar winner is quite frank about his penchant for marijuana and tends to go for local product. “Certainly if you appreciate California weed, which I have for many years, you’ll realize that we’re somewhat close to the money when we say that, California has surpassed Thailand, Jamaica, South Sudan, and certainly Mexico as the king and queen of quality weed,” said Stone. He also joked – or maybe not? – that he might get into agriculture himself. ” I’m thinking myself of getting into the business, although I suspect there’d be a lot of stress with the Feds changing the rules all the time. Those bastards.” Savages was a chance for Stone to re-connect to his inner rebel, he told HIGH Times . Said the publication’s Chris Simunek: “We applaud Oliver Stone for showing the same sort of courage in his support for the marijuana cause that he’s shown with so many other issues, past and present. HIGH Times has always championed the rebel with a cause, and when people of Mr. Stone’s renown speak up — and smoke up — in the public sector, it exposes one more chink in the armor of idiocy that protects the status quo.” [Source: HIGH Times ] And what do you think of Stone’s HIGH Times cover shot?

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Oliver Stone Lights Up for Some Good Ole High Times

Idris Elba Suits Up in First Image from Guillermo Del Toro’s Pacific Rim

Total Film has the first look at Idris Elba in Guillermo del Toro’s alien invasion flick Pacific Rim , for which he built — and destroyed — replica sets, kaiju style. Elba stars alongside Charlie Hunnam , Ron Perlman, Charlie Day and Rinko Kikuchi in the mecha-epic, which pits robot-piloting humans in battle against interplanetary monsters. In the magazine’s latest issue, Del Toro spills about the process of destroying entire city blocks and rigging robot hydraulic rigs on the set: When we’re talking about the physicality of the fight, we ended up building several blocks of Hong Kong. And literally demolished them. We built a building and then we took down the buildings. We built command centres of the robots that were the size of the house. We started them on hydraulic rigs that shoot and elevated them and moved them round so you could really get a sense of the physical nature driving a robot like this. “The thing I love most in the world is monsters, and we are creating great monsters,” del Toro told Movieline last year , when he was just starting on the film. Pacific Rim is set for release on July 13, 2013. [ Total Film via Moviehole ]

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Idris Elba Suits Up in First Image from Guillermo Del Toro’s Pacific Rim

Rumor: Universal Wants Angelina Jolie to Direct 50 Shades of Grey?

File under WTF, Out of Left Field, and Most Probably Not Happening, Like Ever: According to Deadline , rumor has it that Angelina Jolie , coming off of her directorial debut In the Land of Blood and Honey , has been in the unofficial running to join the 50 Shades of Grey adaptation — not as Mrs. Robinson, not as some kinky bondage-enthusiast, but as… director. Mike Fleming reports from the floor of the rumor mill: “I’ve heard rumors about the possibility of Angelina Jolie having a conversation or two about directing it… The studio says that no discussions have been had, but they note that if she was interested, that the studio would be also. They loved her directorial debut, In The Land Of Blood And Honey .” I’m not sure what about Blood and Honey would suggest that Jolie is a great pick to direct the steamy erotica adaptation, though she has won “honors” in various men’s magazines for being the Sexiest Woman Alive, and those things ought to count for something. In any case, Fleming says, Jolie’s busy. “I’m told she’s completely focused on her next film, Maleficent , at Disney and isn’t entertaining other offers at this moment.” So maybe the Jolie train has already come and gone. Assuming so, which director would you like to see tackle 50 Shades of Grey ? I’ll start with a few: Adrian Lyne (via Deadline commenters). Just Jaeckin. John Waters. Go! [ Deadline ]

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Rumor: Universal Wants Angelina Jolie to Direct 50 Shades of Grey?

Maggie Gyllenhaal Cast in White House Down, MPAA Tries One More Time: Biz Break

Also in Thursday afternoon’s news round up, Peter Bogdanovich will direct John Ledger , Locarno Film Festival will fete Johnnie To and Harvey Weinstein and Donald Sutherland take honors at a Paris festival. Tom Sizemore Set to Star in John Ledger Peter Bogdanovich ( Paper Moon will direct Sizemore ( Saving Private Ryan ) in the titular role. The story revolves around “one man’s descent into sex addiction and how it affects his family and friends.  John Ledger is a 45-year-old, Southern Californian car salesman, who chases the demon of sex addiction while trying to maintain a normal life with wife, Mary and their teenage son, Brian.“ Johnnie To to Receive Locarno Fete Hong Kong filmmaker Johnnie To ( Breaking News will receive the “Pardo all carriera” award “for his exceptional contribution to cinema as a director and producer” at the Locarno Film Festival, taking place in the Swiss lakeside town August 1 – 11. The festival will also screen the European premiere of his latest production, Motorway directed by Soi Cheang in addition to a retrospective of a number of his past films. Around the ‘net… Maggie Gyllenhaal Boards White House Down Gyllenhaal will play the female lead in the thriller directed by Roland Emmerich. In the film Channing Tatum plays a secret service agent trying to stop a takeover of the presidential mansion. Jamie Foxx will play the U.S. president, Deadline reports . Harvey Weinstein, Donald Sutherland and Michael Madsen Join 1st Champs Elysees Film Festival Weinstein will receive a tribute at the Paris event, while Sutherland will be feted with a French award and a screening of Klute . The event is part of a strategy to “create a bridge between the independent American and French film industries,” SydneysBuzz reports from the event. MPAA Chief Chris Dodd Seeks Silicon Valley Piracy Support – Again The former senator is calling on Hollywood and Silicon Valley to work together on piracy after the latter helped kill anti-piracy legislation last year. Dodd wrote in a Huffington Post blog, “”It’s discouraging to hear Google executives say they ‘have done as much as they possibly can’ when in fact the theft of American products around the world is rampant – and often facilitated by their search engine,” Variety reports .

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Maggie Gyllenhaal Cast in White House Down, MPAA Tries One More Time: Biz Break

Robert Pattinson Starrer Cosmopolis to Open U.S. in August

Pattinson said in Cannes there wasn’t much in the way of rehearsal before he began shooting the David Cronenberg-directed film and that he “worried” in his hotel room before it all began. Distributor Entertainment One said it will hit U.S. theaters August 17th, well after its release north of the border. Cosmopolis opens this Friday in Canada and it will head a week later to the U.K. for a June 15th roll out. Pattinson noted about making the film recently , “I’m not very scared of it going away at all. If I could somehow maintain a career in which I keep making movies like Cosmopolis , than I think it would be amazing, because not very many of them are made.” Based on the novel by Don DeLillo, Cronenberg’s latest stars the Twilight heartthrob as a 28 year-old billionaire assets manager who begins a day-long journey in his very tricked out limo as it inches its way through Manhattan. Eric Packer’s (Pattinson) objective is simple enough — he wants to get a haircut. He has everything, so what else can fulfill him? Perched on his throne in the back of his stretch limo, Packer encounters individuals as his car meanders the packed New York City streets. Juliette Binoche, Paul Giamatti, Samantha Morton, Sarah Gadon and more represent his physical, material and intellectual desires as well as demise and some — but not all — joining him one-on-one in his inner sanctum.

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Robert Pattinson Starrer Cosmopolis to Open U.S. in August

Elvis to "Appear" in Film & TV, IFC Midnight Goes Antiviral: Biz Break

Also in Wednesday afternoon’s quick news roundup, The Hobbit is set to premiere in Down Under later this year, Paul Rudd and Emile Hirsch complete a “secret” indie and Captain America 2 appears to have found its directors. Also up is news on a network starring Asian Americans and Universal chief Ron Meyer heads to UCLA festivities. IFC Midnight Takes Rights to Antiviral U.S. rights to Brandon Cronenberg’s Cannes debut Antiviral have been picked up by IFC Midnight. The film, also with a screenplay by Cronenberg, stars Caleb Landry Jones, Sarah Gadon, Douglas Smith and Malcolm McDowell. The film follows “Syd March, an employee at a clinic that sells injections of live viruses harvested from sick celebrities to rabid fans. Syd supplements his income by selling illegal samples of these viruses on the black market,smuggling them out of the clinic in his own body. When he becomes infected with the disease that kills superstar Hannah Geist, Syd becomes a target for collectors and obsessed fans. Arianna Bocco, Senior Vice President of Acquisitions & Productions of Sundance Selects/IFC Films negotiated the deal with Gregory Chambet of TF1 International. Asian Americans Take Spotlight in Network’s Film Fest Mnet , the first national, 24/7 English-language television network in the U.S. for all things Asian, kicks off the third season of Short Notice with a film festival that allows fans to select their favorite short film created by and starring Asian Americans . As one of Mnet’s original programming series, the show premieres on Wednesday, June 13 at 8 p.m. ET/PT with new host George Wang. Universal Chief Ron Meyer to Deliver UCLA Commencement Ron Meyer, Universal Studios President and COO, will be the 2012 Commencement Speaker for this year’s UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television’s (TFT) commencement ceremony.  Recipients of TFT’s 2012 Distinguished Alumni Awards are director and screenwriter Penelope Spheeris for Film and Shirley Jo Finney, the award-winning international director/actor, for Theater, both of whom will receive their awards at the ceremony. UCLA Names New Chair of Dept. of Film, Television, and Digital Media William McDonald, award-winning cinematographer and professor, has been appointed the new Chair of the Department of Film, Television and Digital Media (FTVDM) at UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television (TFT) and will assume his new position on July 1st. GKids Takes Rights to Japan’s From up on Poppy Hill GKIDS is handling theatrical, home video, television and VOD rights and will qualify the film for the Academy Awards in the Best Animated Feature category. Directed by Goro Miyazaki, the film is set in Yokohama in 1963, about a high school couple’s innocent love and the secrets surrounding their births. The story takes place in a Japan that is picking itself up from the devastation of World War II and preparing to host the 1964 Olympics. GKids plans a March 2013 release. Around the ‘net… Elvis will Appear in Film and TV – Virtually CORE Media Group, which owns the Elvis Presley brand, has signed a deal with digital production company Digital Domain Media Group to develop, produce a series of “virtual” Elvis Presley apparitions for film and TV projects, Deadline reports . The Hobbit to Debut November in New Zealand The screening at Wellington’s Embassy Theatre will take place two weeks ahead of the film’s release on 14 December. Oscar-winning Lord of the Rings director Peter Jackson said it was fitting to hold the premiere “where the journey began.” Based on the novel by J.R.R. Tolkien, The Hobbit is set 60 years before the Lord Of The Rings trilogy of films, BBC reports . Paul Rudd and Emile Hirsch Complete ‘Top Secret’ Indie The actors worked on Prince Avalanche by writer-director David Gordon Green, based on Hafsteinn Gunnar Sigurosson’s Icelandic comedy Either Way . The film revolves around two men whose lives intersect while working on a road striping crew together. Green and his longtime collaborators Lisa Muskat and Craig Zobel produced the film with James Belfer and Derrick Tseng, Variety reports . Russo Bros. Appear to be Headed to Captain America 2 Anthony and Joe Russo are close to signing on to direct the Captain America sequel for Marvel. The Russo’s credits include You, Me & Dupree and NBC’s comedy Community , THR reports .

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Elvis to "Appear" in Film & TV, IFC Midnight Goes Antiviral: Biz Break

That’s My Boy: 9 Life Lessons — and Mad Rhymes — from Vanilla Ice

Stop. Collaborate and listen. Ice is back with a brand new invention. No, really! He is. Rob Van Winkle, who you know as ‘90s rap sensation Vanilla Ice, has a major role in this summer’s new Adam Sandler comedy That’s My Boy , in which he plays himself, Vanilla Ice. The set-up: Donny Berger (Sandler) became famous in the ‘80s for having an affair with his hot teacher. Donny knew Ice from the flash in the pan/has-been circuit, and goes back to hang out with Ice when he reunites with the grown son ( Andy Samberg ) he fathered. Winkle joined the stars of That’s My Boy at a press conference over the weekend, and he stole the panel right from Sandler and Samberg. He’s still dropping mad rhymes, and they’re full of wisdom from his 20 years of growing up and self-reflection on the Vanilla Ice days. We could all take a lesson from Vanilla Ice, so start with some of these. 1. No slippin’ on your pimpin’. “You keep your hustle tight and you never get caught slippin’ on your pimpin’,” Winkle said when the panel was asked how they deal with failures in their careers. Our takeaway is that he has not been slippin’ on his pimpin’, since Winkle keeps working, even on reality shows like Surreal Life and Celebrity Bull Riding . “If you get caught slippin’ on your pimpin’ you’re up sh*t creek without a paddle.” 2. Well, just in case you need that paddle… If you end up paddle-less in a creek, all is not lost. “Learn how to swim through the trenches and get to the other side and when you get there it’ll be paradise for you. I was in the trenches, trying to get to the other side. Sh*t creek, I found a paddle. [Sandler] helped me with the other paddle and here we are.” 3. Embrace the past. “We are who we are because of who we were, which I had to accept, and there’s a little truth to that,” Winkle said when we asked if he’s always thinking in deep wisdom and mad rhymes. 4. Look to the future. “Yesterday’s history, tomorrow is a mystery,” Winkle said when asked if this movie comeback could lead to a Cool As Ice 2. Not only would a Cool as Ice sequel be awesome, it’s also good advice in general. “Take it day by day, man. Get in where you fit in and enjoy the ride. You never know about it.” 5. These mad rhymes matter. These slogans kept the press laughing, but Winkle explained he truly uses them to get through life. “That’s one thing I’ve learned, I live off these little phrases. It’s not all jokes, but these little phrases, they’re more valuable than thousands of dollars worth of therapy to me. They make sense.” 6. Love yourself. “Be yourself, enjoy yourself,” was another one of Winkle’s life lessons. More specifically, find the place that’s right for you, whether it’s rapping or starring in an Adam Sandler movie. “I just get in where I fit in.” 7. Be happy. In a genre of music that can often spiral into anger and violence, positivity is important. “Show me a smile and I’ll show you one back. They’re contagious. So, it works for me. Stay positive, good things happen. Look where I’m at.” 8. Mind the company you keep. It also matters who you let in your life. The Sandler crew was good for Winkle, but be careful of your entourage. “Show me who your friends are and I’ll show you who you are. Karma, believe in it. It’s real. It comes back to you.” 9. Listen to your mother (and word to her!) Since the film is about an embarrassing parent, the panel was asked what they learned from their parents. Winkle shared his mother’s lesson. Maybe mad wisdom runs in the family. “My mom always told me, ‘Act smarter than you are. Always know where your exit is in case you get into too much trouble.’” To borrow from the immortal popular words of Mr. Van Winkle: If there was a problem, yo, he’ll solve it. That’s My Boy opens June 15.

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That’s My Boy: 9 Life Lessons — and Mad Rhymes — from Vanilla Ice

Snow White and the Huntsman Reigns Atop Box Office; What Did You Watch?

Brava to the dewy-cheeked Kristen Stewart , who opened Snow White and the Huntsman , the weekend’s number one movie, by swinging a sword and championing girl power without having to kiss a single vampire! (Those two hunky human suitors and the riveting fabulosity that was Charlize Theron didn’t hurt either.) Nice to see girls ruling while boys drooled over the box office — well, their male-driven movies ( Men in Black 3 , Avengers , Battleship ), anyway. Tell us what you saw this weekend as we go to the receipts! 1. Snow White and the Huntsman Gross: $56,255,000 (new) Screens: 3,773 (PSA: $14,910) Weeks: 1 Well, well, well. Stewart’s first big non- Twilight movie made a strong showing over the weekend, outdoing Men in Black 3 ’s debut with the one-two-three punch of KStew, Chris Hemsworth, and Charlize Theron. Coming in with the fourth biggest opening of the year, the dark fairytale soared on dazzling visuals even if audiences only gave it a “B” CinemaScore rating. 2. Men in Black 3 Gross: $29,300,000 ($112,300,000) Screens: 4,248 (PSA $6,897) Weeks: 2 (Change: -46.3%) Foreign tallies will help Will Smith and Co. get over their 46.3 percent drop-off – even at only $112 million domestically, the sci-fi threequel has topped $386 million globally, and counting. Still, it’s not quite time to get MIB4 in gear, seeing as the reported production budget was a whopping $225 million alone. 3. The Avengers Gross: $20,273,000 ($552,737,000) Screens: 3,670 (PSA: $5,524) Weeks: 5 (Change: -44.7%) $1.35 billion worldwide and counting. That is all. 4. Battleship Gross: $4,810,000 ($55,123,000) Screens: 3,144 (PSA $1,530) Weeks: 3 (Change: -56.5%) Say bye bye to Battleship as it continues sinking ever faster down the Top 10. Universal’s thanking their lucky stars for the foreign markets right about now, as domestic take has totally a paltry $55.1 million in three weeks. 5. The Dictator Gross: $4,725,000 ($50,835,000) Screens: 2,649 (PSA $1,784) Weeks: 3 (Change: -49.1%) Still just the third-best performing Sacha Baron Cohen movie to date. N/A Piranha 3DD Gross: $179,000 (new) Screens: 86 (PSA $2,081) Weeks: 1 Well, they tried . Kinda . [Figures via Box Office Mojo ]

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Snow White and the Huntsman Reigns Atop Box Office; What Did You Watch?

WATCH: An Amazing Prometheus Trailer… Made Out of Paper

Can’t get enough of this Friday’s Prometheus ? Then you’ll want to watch this shot-for-shot fan trailer that recreates every moment of Ridley Scott’s second Prometheus trailer with paper and flashlights, which is at once the antithesis of the effects-laden sci-fi pic and a neat-o celebration of its fantastical imagery. Plus: Paper Fassbender! Still hot. Obviously I have a fondness for animated fan trailers, but this one takes the form to a new level. It’s inventive, detailed, and meticulously reconstructed, and whoever drew these characters did an especially fine job on Paper Idris Elba. I’d probably watch an entire Prometheus movie made of paper. [via Film Drunk ]

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WATCH: An Amazing Prometheus Trailer… Made Out of Paper

Internet Prankster Pretends to Be Zombie, Gets Chased in Miami

This is why you should leave the zombie play to professionals in the movies, kids. And whatever you do, don’t go around pretending to be a member of the face-eating living dead IN MIAMI, where folks are on high alert for crazed strangers and bath salts with good reason. Unfortunately, this jerkwad internet pranker is reveling in the attention and boasts that his most irate victims only got in a few hits before he begged off as a jokester in undead clothing. He also has a prank video in which he pretends to fart on people , so by comparison this is some real highbrow stuff. That said, face-eatin’ is so hot these days, it can’t be long until we see a movie based on the recent rash of real life cannibals. Here’s my pitch: Found footage horror follows internet prankster who terrorizes unsuspecting citizens of Miami in zombie guise, only to find that the actual zombiepocalypse has begun; he is then eaten by zombies. Any takers? [ Vitalyztv via @MelAddington ]

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Internet Prankster Pretends to Be Zombie, Gets Chased in Miami