Serial killer franchise 'Saw' is the most successful horror movie series, according to the Guinness World Records.
The six Saw films have raked in a total of 733 million dollars at the box office.
Producer Mark Burg told a foreign new agency that he was 'in shock' at beating other long-running movie franchises, such as Friday the 13th and Halloween.
The seventh and final installment, which will be shown in 3D, is due out on 29 October.
We are done; this is it. We don''t want to be that boxer who fought one too many fights," the BBC quoted Burg as saying.
"In every Saw movie, we left questions open and in this movie we answer every question the audience has ever had," Burg added.
Saturday, July 24, 2010
Elton John working on 'Animal Farm' musical
Melbourne, July 24 : Legendary singer Elton John is working on a new show based on George Orwell's 'Animal Farm' alongside Lee Hall, who wrote the hit musical 'Billy Elliot'.
The Daily Mail reports Hall, who has won numerous awards for his book and lyrics for 'Billy Elliot,' believes the dystopian novella is perfectly suited for the stage.
Orwell''s story is about a piglet called Napoleon who destroys a rival and rides roughshod over other opponents in his bid to control the old Manor Farm.
"I''m deep into it, writing songs for pigs and other four-legged friends," the Herald Sun quoted Hall as saying.
"Having worked with him on Billy Elliot, I know that Elton likes to have the lyrics done and have them in front of him so I''ll work on a batch before I give him anything to look at.
"I would think it''s going to take about two years before it''s all ready to go," he added.
Hall and his associates have spent a long time to get various rights necessary to bring the 1945 classic to the stage.
"It''s taken about two years," he said.
"We almost gave up but there was always that one last licence to go after," Hall added.
The Daily Mail reports Hall, who has won numerous awards for his book and lyrics for 'Billy Elliot,' believes the dystopian novella is perfectly suited for the stage.
Orwell''s story is about a piglet called Napoleon who destroys a rival and rides roughshod over other opponents in his bid to control the old Manor Farm.
"I''m deep into it, writing songs for pigs and other four-legged friends," the Herald Sun quoted Hall as saying.
"Having worked with him on Billy Elliot, I know that Elton likes to have the lyrics done and have them in front of him so I''ll work on a batch before I give him anything to look at.
"I would think it''s going to take about two years before it''s all ready to go," he added.
Hall and his associates have spent a long time to get various rights necessary to bring the 1945 classic to the stage.
"It''s taken about two years," he said.
"We almost gave up but there was always that one last licence to go after," Hall added.
'Superman' star Christopher Reeve 'had affair with gay porn star'
Late gay porn star Cal Culver has divulged through a new book that he had an affair with 'Superman' star Christopher Reeve.
In the book 'Hollywood
Babylon Strikes Again,' Culver has given details of their relationship
in an interview conducted before his death.
Culver, who died in 1987, alleged that he met Reeve when they were both auditioning for a 'Broadway' role in the mid-1970s.
''Christopher was a great lover and I think I liberated him sexually. I didn''t think he was gay but he seemed willing to try anything once. He was curious,'' the Daily Telegraph quoted him as writing.
In the book extract, obtained by the America''s Globe newspaper, Culver claimed Superman star Reeve was ''the man of my dreams.''
He said that the pair had a passionate two-month relationship until Reeve discovered Culver was a gay porn star, performing under the name Casey Donovan.
The news may come as a surprise to the millions of Reeve fans who saw the star enjoy a healthy
He also had a son William with Dana, as well as children Matthew and Alexandra from a previous relationship.
Reeve died in 2004 of heart failure and had been married for 12-year to Dana.
Wonder Woman Movie?
The most recent Hollywood rumor is that the renowned movie production company
, Warner Bros might just again be moving in to make a Wonder Woman film. The rumor mills also claim that WB has roped in screenwriter David S. Goyer, who scripted for Batman Begins.
Although it’s possible that this entire movie rumor is a direct outcome of the ever popular Comic-Con, there can be some truth to the whole deal.
Warner Bros and Wonder Woman haven’t quite been the best of friends, according to past records. She has been treated like some outcast stepchild, when it comes to making a film on her.
The long-belabored Joss Whedon production had roped in actresses from Jennifer Love-Hewitt to Sandra Bullock; however the movie never commenced since he dropped the whole idea to assume direction for the Marvel’s Avengers film.
The news hasn’t originated out of thin air. Warner Bros producer Laura Shuler Donner had of late spoken about her wish for reviving the ‘Wonder Woman’ franchisee. She wishes to incorporate a contemporary twist, while keeping the mythical personality of the DC character intact.
Mel Gibson's a liar: Grigorieva
Russian singer Oksana Grigorieva has denied claims that she tried to extort money from ex-boyfriend Mel Gibson to keep the recordings of his telephone rants private.
"Mel is lying. There's no extortion and there are no texts and e-mails. I'm fighting for my child. Mel's just a liar and it will come up in the court, just wait," usmagazine.com quoted Oksana, 40, as saying.
The Los Angeles Sheriff's department recently confirmed that it is investigating the extortion charge. Meanwhile, Gibson, 54, is the subject of a domestic violence probe.
Oksana also slammed reports that her younger sister leaked the infamous phone tapes that appeared online.
"She doesn't have them. She erased them a long time ago," Oksana said about the shocking tapes in which an irate, screaming Gibson spewed racial and misogynist epithets and threatened his ex with violence.
'Salt' high on action, lacks other spices
By Satyen K. Bordoloi, Film: 'Salt'; Director: Phillip Noyce; Cast: Angelina Jolie, Liev Schreiber, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Daniel Olbrychski; Rating:***
Action movies are easy. All it needs is a decent story, action and wit. An action-thriller is a different ball-game altogether. Not only do they have to get the action right, they also have to get the suspense and its delivery right. "Salt" scores on the action and the story, but fails in the convincing delivery of the suspense.
In the film, Evelyn Salt (Angelina Jolie) is a CIA operative in New York, married to a German. A Russian defector informs them that Russia has infiltrated many super soldiers in different defence agencies of the US who wait for the order to carry out subversive activities and Salt is one of them. He tells her that it would be her job to assassinate the Russian president who would be visiting the US soon.
When the needle of suspicion is directed towards her, she escapes but states that she has done so to save her husband. The rest of the film plays on who exactly is Salt, a Russian assassin or a US spy with some interesting twists and turns.
The plot and the suspense are not the film's drawbacks. Neither is the action as Jolie's antics keep the audience glued. The problem is the pace and timing at which the suspense unfolds.
Not much time is dwelt on the transformation of Salt due to her attachment to her loving husband, thus losing out on a stronger emotional connect for the audience.
Also, the Russian connect is a bit too late. Had it been in the Cold War, the topicality and believability of it would not have been so lost to an average viewer today.
Originally the script was written with a male lead in mind and Tom Cruise was approached to play the lead. However, he had problems with it being similar to his "Mission Impossible" franchisee after which the lead was turned to a female.
Indeed, the character of Salt borrows heavily from Ethan Hunt in "Mission Impossible" as well as Jason Bourne in the 'Bourne' series of films.
Kurt Wimmer, who has written the cult classic "Equilibrium", fails in getting the same tension and depth to the story in "Salt". Yet, if the film is a hit, room is left open for sequels to follow.
Action movies are easy. All it needs is a decent story, action and wit. An action-thriller is a different ball-game altogether. Not only do they have to get the action right, they also have to get the suspense and its delivery right. "Salt" scores on the action and the story, but fails in the convincing delivery of the suspense.
In the film, Evelyn Salt (Angelina Jolie) is a CIA operative in New York, married to a German. A Russian defector informs them that Russia has infiltrated many super soldiers in different defence agencies of the US who wait for the order to carry out subversive activities and Salt is one of them. He tells her that it would be her job to assassinate the Russian president who would be visiting the US soon.
When the needle of suspicion is directed towards her, she escapes but states that she has done so to save her husband. The rest of the film plays on who exactly is Salt, a Russian assassin or a US spy with some interesting twists and turns.
The plot and the suspense are not the film's drawbacks. Neither is the action as Jolie's antics keep the audience glued. The problem is the pace and timing at which the suspense unfolds.
Not much time is dwelt on the transformation of Salt due to her attachment to her loving husband, thus losing out on a stronger emotional connect for the audience.
Also, the Russian connect is a bit too late. Had it been in the Cold War, the topicality and believability of it would not have been so lost to an average viewer today.
Originally the script was written with a male lead in mind and Tom Cruise was approached to play the lead. However, he had problems with it being similar to his "Mission Impossible" franchisee after which the lead was turned to a female.
Indeed, the character of Salt borrows heavily from Ethan Hunt in "Mission Impossible" as well as Jason Bourne in the 'Bourne' series of films.
Kurt Wimmer, who has written the cult classic "Equilibrium", fails in getting the same tension and depth to the story in "Salt". Yet, if the film is a hit, room is left open for sequels to follow.
Brad Pitt channelled Elvis Presley to voice for 'Megamind' role
Washington, July 24 : Brad Pitt channelled his inner Elvis Presley when he lent his voice to play the role of Metro Mind in the upcoming Dreamworks animation
, ‘Megamind’, said the director of the film.
Pitt plays Metro Mind, a superhero propelled to battle it out against supervillian Megamind in the highly anticipated, highly satirical family flick.
And according to director Tom McGrath, Pitt channelled his inner Elvis to play the smooth and swanky role.
"When he approached this character, it was like playing off as Elvis Presley to ''Metroman'' Alice Cooper - Will (Ferrell''s) character. (Pitt) grabbed onto that, ran with it and played with it. He''s such a physical actor," Fox News quoted McGrath as saying.
And the director couldn’t help gushing about how cool Pitt really is.
"(Brad) is so cool, the coolest dude on the planet. Because so many people chase him, he would ride his motorcycle right into the recording studio... He''s so engaging, so funny," added McGrath.
, ‘Megamind’, said the director of the film.
Pitt plays Metro Mind, a superhero propelled to battle it out against supervillian Megamind in the highly anticipated, highly satirical family flick.
And according to director Tom McGrath, Pitt channelled his inner Elvis to play the smooth and swanky role.
"When he approached this character, it was like playing off as Elvis Presley to ''Metroman'' Alice Cooper - Will (Ferrell''s) character. (Pitt) grabbed onto that, ran with it and played with it. He''s such a physical actor," Fox News quoted McGrath as saying.
And the director couldn’t help gushing about how cool Pitt really is.
"(Brad) is so cool, the coolest dude on the planet. Because so many people chase him, he would ride his motorcycle right into the recording studio... He''s so engaging, so funny," added McGrath.
Ex-couple Price, Andre voted most boring public figures
A survey conducted by men's online magazine AskMen UK has voted Katie Price and her ex-husband Peter Andre as the most boring public figures that people are tired of hearing about.
Price topped with 51 percent of votes in the Great Male survey as being the female public figure people were most tired of hearing about, leaving behind eccentric singer Lady Gaga and Malaria-stricken Cheryl Cole at second and third positions, respectively.
"For many British guys, Katie Price represents everything they'd want to avoid in a partner. For a number of men, her apparent harsh treatment of ex-husband Peter Andre makes her bad relationship material and her constant craving for attention would seem to be a huge personality turn off," femalefirst.co.uk quoted Andrew Lubega, editor of AskMen UK - who commissioned the survey - as saying.
In the male category, the 7,000 people surveyed placed Katie's ex-husband Peter in the top spot, closely followed by "Twilight" actor Robert Pattinson.
Golfer Tiger Woods, music mogul Simon Cowell
and England soccer star John Terry filled the rest of the top five slots.
The Great Male survey quizzed respondents on a range of topics, including use of technology, political preferences, favourite television shows
and celebrity crushes.
Price topped with 51 percent of votes in the Great Male survey as being the female public figure people were most tired of hearing about, leaving behind eccentric singer Lady Gaga and Malaria-stricken Cheryl Cole at second and third positions, respectively.
"For many British guys, Katie Price represents everything they'd want to avoid in a partner. For a number of men, her apparent harsh treatment of ex-husband Peter Andre makes her bad relationship material and her constant craving for attention would seem to be a huge personality turn off," femalefirst.co.uk quoted Andrew Lubega, editor of AskMen UK - who commissioned the survey - as saying.
In the male category, the 7,000 people surveyed placed Katie's ex-husband Peter in the top spot, closely followed by "Twilight" actor Robert Pattinson.
Golfer Tiger Woods, music mogul Simon Cowell
and England soccer star John Terry filled the rest of the top five slots.
The Great Male survey quizzed respondents on a range of topics, including use of technology, political preferences, favourite television shows
and celebrity crushes.
Are 'The Avengers' on their way to San Diego Comc-Con?
Marvel may end the movie portion of San Diego's Comic-Con with the official debut with Earth's Mightest Heroes. A report this afternoon indicated the long rumored recruitment of Mark Ruffalo to play Bruce Banner, also known as The Incredible Hulk, in Joss Whedon's "The Avengers" was close to being finalized. HitFix contacted Marvel Studios' reps who issued a "no comment" to the signing.
Ruffalo would replace Edward Norton who played Banner in 2008's "The Incredible Hulk." The two parties had quite a following out that was chronicled exclusively on HitFix almost two weeks ago.
Rumors have been flying that Marvel wanted Ruffalo signed so he could appear on stage alongside the rest of "The Avengers," during the company's "Thor" and "Captain America: The First Avengers" panel Saturday evening. With Chris Hemsworth (Thor) and Chris Evans (Captain America) already in attendance, only Robert Downey, Jr. (Iron Man), Scarlett Johansson (Black Widow), possibly Samuel L. Jackson (Nick Fury) and Ruffalo would be needed to have the entire super hero team appear on stage. Neither Marvel or distributor Paramount Pictures have confirmed that is the plan.
Viking fans, beware! This next bit of True Blood dish might make you want to claws your eyes out—or something slightly less gruesome, but still...
"I do believe that Bill and Sookie are soulmates," show runner and all around vamptastic man Alan Ball declared during tonight's True Blood panel at Comic-Con.
See, if you're ultimately rooting for Eric (Alexander Skarsgård) to steal the Bon Temps babe's heart, Alan is the guy you'd want saying something totally different than what he just did. And you guessed it, there's more...
Alan also went on to say: "I think that Bill and Sookie of the show have become slightly different from the Bill and Sookie of the books. [And] I personally root for things to work out between them." And here's the kicker: "I don't know if they will, but I believe the love is true between them."
But (and this is a very big but!), book lovers might gush a little over this tease. Says Alan of season four (yep, he's looking all the way to next year!): "There's a character that doesn't really know who he or she is and becomes a different person than we've gotten to know, and maybe someone who has hated this person doesn't hate them so much anymore." Ringing any bells? Hm? Hmmm?
Watch: Mark Wahlberg says it's complicated with Will Ferrell in 'The Other Guys'
"The Other Guys" may be a buddy cop movie, but the relationship between its principals Will Ferrell and Mark Walhberg is a bit more complicated.
The latter joked with HitFix that the male bonding before shooting was a bit more like a first date. A bad first date. Wahlberg says he keeps trying for a second chance but the SNL alum won't even pick up the phone.
So does that mean the two fought? Does either get decked by the other in the film?
"He slaps me around a little be, I choke him out a couple times," Wahlberg warns, though "it's never a fair fight with me. I'll do whatever I have to do to win."
Check out what Ferrell had to say about his other Comic-Con featured film "Megamind" yesterday.
The latter joked with HitFix that the male bonding before shooting was a bit more like a first date. A bad first date. Wahlberg says he keeps trying for a second chance but the SNL alum won't even pick up the phone.
So does that mean the two fought? Does either get decked by the other in the film?
"He slaps me around a little be, I choke him out a couple times," Wahlberg warns, though "it's never a fair fight with me. I'll do whatever I have to do to win."
Check out what Ferrell had to say about his other Comic-Con featured film "Megamind" yesterday.
Watch: Guillermo del Toro talks creatures of 'Haunted Mansion,' 'Don't Be Afraid...'
Guillermo del Toro described his forthcoming reboot of TV movie "Don't Be Afraid of the Dark" in terms of "sweaty and rankled" balls at Comic-Con earlier in the day, but he also insists it is "beautiful and gorgeous to look at."
In an interview with HitFix, the famed "Pan's Labyrinth" director said he intended for the film to tread the line between B-grade horror and high class thrills.
"[Horror films] are meant to elicit an emotion, therefore they're meant to scare the crap out of you," he said. "But it's done with a lot of class. It's beautiful, it's gorgeous to look at... that's the high brow aspect of it.
He hoped, too, to "honor" the creatures in the original flick, though their look may still surprise you. "These creatures are hidden for a good portion of the film, but when they show up, they're absolutely terrifying."
But, as the world knows now, the Mexican director had even more big news to celebrate at the 'Con this year: on Thursday, it was announced he'd be helming up Disney's "The Haunted Mansion," based on the notorious Disneyland ride. Will it be anything like "Pirates of the Caribbean," another ride-to-film franchise?
"Only in the sense of scale," del Toro says, describing it as a "big event movie." Again, he wants to keep it "classy, beautiful," but likely won't carry the Hard R rating that "Don't Be Afraid" earned. It will be "a movie that is both fun and scary, not dark and grimy and scary."
Furthermore, he said his monsters will be both live action actors and CGI creatures, incorporating puppetry and "every trick in the book."
In an interview with HitFix, the famed "Pan's Labyrinth" director said he intended for the film to tread the line between B-grade horror and high class thrills.
"[Horror films] are meant to elicit an emotion, therefore they're meant to scare the crap out of you," he said. "But it's done with a lot of class. It's beautiful, it's gorgeous to look at... that's the high brow aspect of it.
He hoped, too, to "honor" the creatures in the original flick, though their look may still surprise you. "These creatures are hidden for a good portion of the film, but when they show up, they're absolutely terrifying."
But, as the world knows now, the Mexican director had even more big news to celebrate at the 'Con this year: on Thursday, it was announced he'd be helming up Disney's "The Haunted Mansion," based on the notorious Disneyland ride. Will it be anything like "Pirates of the Caribbean," another ride-to-film franchise?
"Only in the sense of scale," del Toro says, describing it as a "big event movie." Again, he wants to keep it "classy, beautiful," but likely won't carry the Hard R rating that "Don't Be Afraid" earned. It will be "a movie that is both fun and scary, not dark and grimy and scary."
Furthermore, he said his monsters will be both live action actors and CGI creatures, incorporating puppetry and "every trick in the book."
Mark Ruffalo Confirmed For The Hulk?
He’s been the subject of rumours almost since the minute Edward Norton quit the role, but now it would appear that a flurry of deal-making activity means that Mark Ruffalo wil be striding out on stage at today’s Marvel panel at the San Diego Comic-Con.Of course, Marvel is naturally staying silent on the issue and with the panel mere hours away, we wouldn’t expect anything less, but with Deadline and at least one other site reporting that Ruffalo’s deal is sealed and he will indeed be the one to shoulder Bruce Banner’s big green burden. And that he’ll officially get the nod in Hall H at the convention centre alongside Chris Evans, Robert Downey Jr, Chris Hemsworth and director Joss Whedon.Oh, and not forgetting Nathan Fillion as Ant-Man....
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