By Brent Lang
LOS ANGELES (TheWrap.com) - Fans have been craving a 'Veronica Mars' big-screen adventure ever since the cult series finished up its CW run six years ago.
Thanks to the power of crowd-sourcing, the youthful sleuth so memorably played by Kristen Bell may finally make her movie debut.
Bell and creator Rob Thomas have launched a Kickstarter page with the goal of raising $2 million in a month. If they get it, they say that Warner Bros., which owns the rights to the series, has agreed to pick up the cost of marketing and distribution if they're able to show enough fan interest.
'I am currently the happiest blonde in a hamster ball the world has ever seen,' Bell writes on the Kickstarter page. 'We have been waiting so long to make this movie dream a movie reality, and it's because of YOUR commitment, YOUR persistence, that we finally have a chance. We just have one more step to go. You have banded together like the sassy little honey badgers you are and made this possibility happen.'
And she promises that 'if we hit our goal, we will make the sleuthiest, snarkiest, it's-all-fun-and-games-'til-one-of-you-gets-my-foot-up-your-ass movie we possibly can.'\
For the uninitiated, the noirish 'Veronica Mars' followed an aspiring private investigator through high school and later college as she was tutored in the art of deduction by her detective father. It was never a ratings blockbuster, but it did inspire a passionate following.
Thomas said that if the goal is reached, the movie will be shot over the summer and post-production will happen in the fall, with a 2014 release date. Backers of the film will get digital copies within days of its release.
To entice fans to open their wallets, the 'Veronica Mars' team is promising set visits, premiere tickets, DVDs of the show's first three seasons and video greetings and voicemails from the cast. The size of the gift is dependent on the size of the donation.
So far it seems to be working. In less than 24 hours, the project has raised more than $400,000 from more than 5,000 backers.
Wednesday, March 13, 2013
Tuesday, March 12, 2013
Baz Luhrmann's "The Great Gatsby" to open Cannes film festival
LONDON (Reuters) - Australian director Baz Luhrmann's 'The Great Gatsby' will open the 2013 Cannes film festival, the world's most important cinema showcase, organizers said on Tuesday.
The adaptation of F. Scott Fitzgerald's account of 'Roaring Twenties' America combines serious literary heritage and A-list star power, with Leonardo DiCaprio in the lead role.
DiCaprio will make an appearance at the festival on the famous Croisette waterfront for the first time since 2007.
The opening gala, preceded by a glitzy red carpet fashion parade and followed by parties along the palm-lined Riviera, will also be attended by Bollywood star Amitabh Bachchan and U.S. rapper Jay-Z.
'It is a great honor for all those who have worked on The Great Gatsby to open the Cannes film festival,' Luhrmann, whose first film Strictly Ballroom was screened there 21 years ago, said in a statement.
'F. Scott Fitzgerald wrote some of the most poignant and beautiful passages of his extraordinary novel just a short distance away at a villa outside St. Raphael,' he added.
DiCaprio plays Jay Gatsby in the 3D movie, Carey Mulligan is Daisy Buchanan and Tobey Maguire is Nick Carraway, the narrator.
The festival runs from May 15 to 26 and U.S. director Steven Spielberg is head of this year's jury.
Last year's winner of the coveted Palme d'Or for best picture was Austrian filmmaker Michael Haneke for the drama Amour.
(Reporting by Mike Collett-White; Editing by Erica Billingham)
The adaptation of F. Scott Fitzgerald's account of 'Roaring Twenties' America combines serious literary heritage and A-list star power, with Leonardo DiCaprio in the lead role.
DiCaprio will make an appearance at the festival on the famous Croisette waterfront for the first time since 2007.
The opening gala, preceded by a glitzy red carpet fashion parade and followed by parties along the palm-lined Riviera, will also be attended by Bollywood star Amitabh Bachchan and U.S. rapper Jay-Z.
'It is a great honor for all those who have worked on The Great Gatsby to open the Cannes film festival,' Luhrmann, whose first film Strictly Ballroom was screened there 21 years ago, said in a statement.
'F. Scott Fitzgerald wrote some of the most poignant and beautiful passages of his extraordinary novel just a short distance away at a villa outside St. Raphael,' he added.
DiCaprio plays Jay Gatsby in the 3D movie, Carey Mulligan is Daisy Buchanan and Tobey Maguire is Nick Carraway, the narrator.
The festival runs from May 15 to 26 and U.S. director Steven Spielberg is head of this year's jury.
Last year's winner of the coveted Palme d'Or for best picture was Austrian filmmaker Michael Haneke for the drama Amour.
(Reporting by Mike Collett-White; Editing by Erica Billingham)
Sunday, March 10, 2013
Disney's "Oz" prequel scores box office gold
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Walt Disney Co's 'Oz the Great and Powerful' dominated movie theaters with an estimated $80.3 million in U.S. and Canadian ticket sales during the weekend, making it the biggest film debut of 2013.
'Oz' stars James Franco as a small-time magician who is whisked to a magical land and mistaken for a wizard. The $200 million, effects-filled movie is a prequel to the 1939 Hollywood classic 'The Wizard of Oz.'
In the No. 2 spot, adventure film 'Jack the Giant Slayer' earned $10 million during its second weekend in theaters, according to studio estimates. Comedy 'Identity Thief' starring Melissa McCarthy took third place with $6.3 million.
Warner Bros., a unit of Time Warner Inc, released 'Jack the Giant Slayer.' 'Identity Thief' was distributed by Universal Pictures, a unit of Comcast Corp.
(Reporting by Lisa Richwine and Andrea Burzynski; Editing by Bill Trott)
'Oz' stars James Franco as a small-time magician who is whisked to a magical land and mistaken for a wizard. The $200 million, effects-filled movie is a prequel to the 1939 Hollywood classic 'The Wizard of Oz.'
In the No. 2 spot, adventure film 'Jack the Giant Slayer' earned $10 million during its second weekend in theaters, according to studio estimates. Comedy 'Identity Thief' starring Melissa McCarthy took third place with $6.3 million.
Warner Bros., a unit of Time Warner Inc, released 'Jack the Giant Slayer.' 'Identity Thief' was distributed by Universal Pictures, a unit of Comcast Corp.
(Reporting by Lisa Richwine and Andrea Burzynski; Editing by Bill Trott)
Beatles' secretary, "Good Ol' Freda," breaks silence in film
AUSTIN, Texas (Reuters) - For Freda Kelly, secretary to the Beatles and head of the band's fan club, work sometimes involved trailing the Fab Four to the barber shop, sweeping their locks from the floor and mailing strands of hair to adoring female fans.
Kelly, one of the Beatles' longest-serving employees, worked for the British band for more than a decade but had never shared her stories publicly until now.
She breaks her silence in a new documentary, 'Good Ol' Freda,' which had its world premiere on Saturday on the second day of the South by Southwest Film Festival in Austin.
'It's such a classic Cinderella story: Girl picks the job of a lifetime,' director Ryan White told Reuters.
The tale is sure to delight fans of the Beatles, but White seeks to tell a story that transcends that audience, a story about an amazing decade in an otherwise ordinary life.
The film features four Beatles songs, which required the permission of many people, including the two surviving Beatles. It also includes never-before-seen photos of the band.
The documentary's title comes from the Beatles' 1963 Christmas recording, in which George Harrison thanks their secretary in Liverpool, and they all yell, 'Good Ol' Freda!'
A mutual friend and a family connection to the 1960s' Liverpool music scene brought Kelly to the attention of White, who took the opportunity to tell her story.
The Los Angeles filmmaker, 31, who co-directed and produced the 2010 soccer documentary 'Pelada,' grew up knowing Kelly as a family friend who was a secretary. In fact, she is still a secretary, for a Liverpool law firm.
'I didn't know that she had a crazy back story,' White said, adding he only discovered it when a friend put them in touch two years ago.
Kelly, now in her late 60s, says in the film that she wanted to record her stories for her 2-year-old grandson - stories that in many cases she never got around to telling her family.
Kelly, described by White as shy and humble, insists in the documentary that no one would be interested in hearing her story.
'I WAS A FAN MYSELF'
The loyal secretary, who was 17 when she started working for the band, has no intention of dishing dirt about her former famous employers, so White focused instead on her compelling personal narrative and interactions with the Beatles.
Kelly arranged bookings, cut paychecks and stayed up all night responding to fan mail. At the height of Beatlemania, the band received 2,000 to 3,000 letters a day, she said.
The Beatles - Harrison, Paul McCartney, John Lennon and Ringo Starr - became the most famous pop band in history. They entered the Guinness Book of World Records in 2001 as the world's best-selling group, with more than 1 billion records sold.
'The amount of personal attention and true affection that she served the Beatles' fans with - teenage girls, mostly - will probably go unmatched throughout music history,' White said.
Kelly was briefly fired by Lennon after she arrived late before a show because she had been having drinks with an opening band. The secretary convinced Lennon to get down on his knee and beg her to stay.
'Freda was like part of the family,' Starr says in the film as the closing credits roll.
Kelly closed down the Beatles' fan club offices after the band broke up in 1970, taking with her boxes of autographs, photos and memorabilia. She did not sell them, instead giving them away to fans over the years, White said.
Kelly, who attended Saturday's premiere and answered questions from audience members, says in the film that she did anything she could for club members.
'I was one of them,' Kelly says. 'I was a fan myself.'
(Editing by Peter Cooney)
Kelly, one of the Beatles' longest-serving employees, worked for the British band for more than a decade but had never shared her stories publicly until now.
She breaks her silence in a new documentary, 'Good Ol' Freda,' which had its world premiere on Saturday on the second day of the South by Southwest Film Festival in Austin.
'It's such a classic Cinderella story: Girl picks the job of a lifetime,' director Ryan White told Reuters.
The tale is sure to delight fans of the Beatles, but White seeks to tell a story that transcends that audience, a story about an amazing decade in an otherwise ordinary life.
The film features four Beatles songs, which required the permission of many people, including the two surviving Beatles. It also includes never-before-seen photos of the band.
The documentary's title comes from the Beatles' 1963 Christmas recording, in which George Harrison thanks their secretary in Liverpool, and they all yell, 'Good Ol' Freda!'
A mutual friend and a family connection to the 1960s' Liverpool music scene brought Kelly to the attention of White, who took the opportunity to tell her story.
The Los Angeles filmmaker, 31, who co-directed and produced the 2010 soccer documentary 'Pelada,' grew up knowing Kelly as a family friend who was a secretary. In fact, she is still a secretary, for a Liverpool law firm.
'I didn't know that she had a crazy back story,' White said, adding he only discovered it when a friend put them in touch two years ago.
Kelly, now in her late 60s, says in the film that she wanted to record her stories for her 2-year-old grandson - stories that in many cases she never got around to telling her family.
Kelly, described by White as shy and humble, insists in the documentary that no one would be interested in hearing her story.
'I WAS A FAN MYSELF'
The loyal secretary, who was 17 when she started working for the band, has no intention of dishing dirt about her former famous employers, so White focused instead on her compelling personal narrative and interactions with the Beatles.
Kelly arranged bookings, cut paychecks and stayed up all night responding to fan mail. At the height of Beatlemania, the band received 2,000 to 3,000 letters a day, she said.
The Beatles - Harrison, Paul McCartney, John Lennon and Ringo Starr - became the most famous pop band in history. They entered the Guinness Book of World Records in 2001 as the world's best-selling group, with more than 1 billion records sold.
'The amount of personal attention and true affection that she served the Beatles' fans with - teenage girls, mostly - will probably go unmatched throughout music history,' White said.
Kelly was briefly fired by Lennon after she arrived late before a show because she had been having drinks with an opening band. The secretary convinced Lennon to get down on his knee and beg her to stay.
'Freda was like part of the family,' Starr says in the film as the closing credits roll.
Kelly closed down the Beatles' fan club offices after the band broke up in 1970, taking with her boxes of autographs, photos and memorabilia. She did not sell them, instead giving them away to fans over the years, White said.
Kelly, who attended Saturday's premiere and answered questions from audience members, says in the film that she did anything she could for club members.
'I was one of them,' Kelly says. 'I was a fan myself.'
(Editing by Peter Cooney)
Saturday, March 9, 2013
Jim Carrey, Steve Carell bring "Burt Wonderstone" magic to SXSW
AUSTIN, Texas (Reuters) - Comedians Jim Carrey and Steve Carell brought a touch of magic to the opening day of the South by Southwest Conferences & Festivals in Austin, Texas on Friday, with the premiere of their new film 'The Incredible Burt Wonderstone.'
'Burt Wonderstone,' out in U.S. theaters on March 15, tells the tale of childhood friends Burt (Carell) and Anton (Steve Buscemi) who bond over their love of magic, growing up to become a world-famous magician duo.
They soon find their skills and friendship tested in a constantly evolving world of magic and entertainment, as audiences demand something new with the arrival of edgy illusionist Steve Gray (Carrey).
Carrey, decked out in a red jacket and silver shoes on Friday's red carpet, said that despite playing a magician, he resented magic. 'I've always had this weird relationship with magic. I think it's fascinating and yet it annoys me because I can't figure it out,' Carrey said.
The funnyman was joined by co-stars Carell, who wore jeans, and Olivia Wilde, who wore a striped navy and white dress and signed autographs for fans.
Carell said he learned a bit of magic for the tricks that were shown up close in the film. 'Some of those things you just can't fake,' Carell said on the red carpet.
Inside the historic Paramount Theatre in downtown Austin, audience members laughed loudly throughout the film, and the stars answered their questions afterward.
Carell told the audience his character's orangey glow was achieved through weekly spray-tanning. He said it wasn't until the final days of shooting that he realized that only his face and chest showed in the film, meaning he had gotten repeatedly sprayed from head to toe for 'no reason whatsoever.'
The world premiere marked the opening of the film portion of South by Southwest, where creative types from all over the world converge in the Texas capital to swap ideas about film, music and technology.
SXSW, which began as a music event in 1987, runs for 10 days. The Interactive portion runs March 8-12, and the Music portion runs March 12-17. Film events run until March 16.
More than 60,000 people registered for SXSW conferences last year, and SXSW officials estimate the growth for 2013 to be in the 5-8 percent range.
Featured speakers at this year's SXSW include former Vice President Al Gore, actor Matthew McConaughey, retired basketball star Shaquille O'Neal and Dave Grohl, the former Nirvana drummer who founded the Foo Fighters.
Headliner films include the world premiere of 'Evil Dead,' starring Jane Levy and Shiloh Fernandez, while Green Day, Depeche Mode and the Yeah Yeah Yeahs are among the musical performers slated.
(Reporting By Corrie MacLaggan; Writing by Piya Sinha-Roy; Editing by Todd Eastham)
'Burt Wonderstone,' out in U.S. theaters on March 15, tells the tale of childhood friends Burt (Carell) and Anton (Steve Buscemi) who bond over their love of magic, growing up to become a world-famous magician duo.
They soon find their skills and friendship tested in a constantly evolving world of magic and entertainment, as audiences demand something new with the arrival of edgy illusionist Steve Gray (Carrey).
Carrey, decked out in a red jacket and silver shoes on Friday's red carpet, said that despite playing a magician, he resented magic. 'I've always had this weird relationship with magic. I think it's fascinating and yet it annoys me because I can't figure it out,' Carrey said.
The funnyman was joined by co-stars Carell, who wore jeans, and Olivia Wilde, who wore a striped navy and white dress and signed autographs for fans.
Carell said he learned a bit of magic for the tricks that were shown up close in the film. 'Some of those things you just can't fake,' Carell said on the red carpet.
Inside the historic Paramount Theatre in downtown Austin, audience members laughed loudly throughout the film, and the stars answered their questions afterward.
Carell told the audience his character's orangey glow was achieved through weekly spray-tanning. He said it wasn't until the final days of shooting that he realized that only his face and chest showed in the film, meaning he had gotten repeatedly sprayed from head to toe for 'no reason whatsoever.'
The world premiere marked the opening of the film portion of South by Southwest, where creative types from all over the world converge in the Texas capital to swap ideas about film, music and technology.
SXSW, which began as a music event in 1987, runs for 10 days. The Interactive portion runs March 8-12, and the Music portion runs March 12-17. Film events run until March 16.
More than 60,000 people registered for SXSW conferences last year, and SXSW officials estimate the growth for 2013 to be in the 5-8 percent range.
Featured speakers at this year's SXSW include former Vice President Al Gore, actor Matthew McConaughey, retired basketball star Shaquille O'Neal and Dave Grohl, the former Nirvana drummer who founded the Foo Fighters.
Headliner films include the world premiere of 'Evil Dead,' starring Jane Levy and Shiloh Fernandez, while Green Day, Depeche Mode and the Yeah Yeah Yeahs are among the musical performers slated.
(Reporting By Corrie MacLaggan; Writing by Piya Sinha-Roy; Editing by Todd Eastham)
Thursday, March 7, 2013
Disney ups box-office ante on "Oz" with massive foreign rollout
LOS ANGELES (TheWrap.com) - Domestic box-office projections for the debut weekend of 'Oz the Great and Powerful' are going as high as $85 million, and Disney's prequel to the 1939 classic could do even better than that overseas.
The studio will roll out its 3D CGI extravaganza in nearly every major foreign territory this weekend - France comes next week, China on March 29 - and analysts say it could exceed its domestic haul at the international box office. It debuts Thursday in 27 territories, including Russia, Germany, Australia, South Korea and Italy. By Friday it will be in 46 markets, including openings in the U.K., Japan, Mexico, Spain and Brazil.
The domestic and foreign debuts make this first weekend critical for Disney, which has very much front-loaded its box-office gamble on 'Oz,' which carries a $200 million production budget and a marketing budget at least half that size.
Disney's head of distribution Dave Hollis acknowledged that the stakes are high.
'With the Disney brand and an iconic, revered property like this, of course it's a big bet,' Hollis told TheWrap. 'But when you ally yourself with filmmakers like Sam Raimi and Robert Stromberg, you reduce some of the risks. We feel really good about this.'
Raimi, director of the first three 'Spider-Man' movies, is at the helm of 'Oz.' James Franco stars as a circus magician sucked via tornado to Oz, where the residents mistake him for a wizard who will free them from the wicked witches. Mila Kunis, Michelle Williams and Rachel Weisz co-star.
Stromberg is the production designer, and had the same role on the film most often compared with 'Oz,' the similarly big-budget and effects-laden 'Alice in Wonderland.' That Disney film starred Johnny Depp and made more than $1 billion in 2010, with the vast majority - $690 million - coming from abroad.
As a literary work, 'Alice in Wonderland' is more well-known globally than 'The Wizard of Oz,' a very American property. But even 'John Carter,' the mega-budget sci-fi adventure flop that resulted in a $200 million write down for Disney last year, took in $209 million overseas, compared to $73 million domestically.
'I think 'Oz' is a much better bet to open with $100 million overseas than in the U.S.,' Exhibitor Relations senior vice-president and senior analyst Jeff Bock told TheWrap.
'Oz' will debut Friday in 3,912 North American theaters. Around 3,055 of those will be 3D, and 307 will be Imax theaters, both of which will be charging premium prices.
Families - who largely steered clear of Warner Bros.' similarly pricey CGI epic 'Jack the Giant Slayer' last week - are expected to turn out in force for 'Oz.' Its PG rating will help there, though parents should know there are some intense moments - heightened by the 3D - that caused at least one 5-year-old to jump into her father's lap three times during a screening.
TheWrap's reviewer Alonso Duralde loved it, but 'Oz' has only a lukewarm 62 percent positive rating on Rotten Tomatoes (the more telling number there may be the 99 percent 'want to see' figure). Movie Review Intelligence has it at 54 percent positive.
'Oz' has accounted for nearly 80 percent of the presales at online ticket broker Fandango this week and, in a positive sign for Disney, 66 percent of those responding to a survey on the site said they would bring their families.
'Oz the Great and Powerful' isn't the only movie opening this week.
Colin Farrell and Noomi Rapace ('Prometheus') star in Film District's neo-noir revenge thriller 'Dead Man Down.' Farrell plays a man who has infiltrated the crime empire run by a ruthless kingpin (Terence Howard) for his own very definite reasons, while his neighbor (Rapace) wants his help to carry out her own plans for retribution.
Danish filmmaker Niels Arden Oplev, who directed Rapace in the original 'Girl With the Dragon Tattoo,' makes his U.S. debut on the film.
Farrell's has underwhelmed in his last two outings as a leading man. 'Seven Psychopaths' was a critical fave but opened to just $4 million in October and topped out at $28 million for CBS Films. And no one forgot Arnold Schwarzenegger after Farrell's turn in last summer's 'Total Recall' remake, which slogged to a $59 million domestic total for Sony.
J.H. Wyman (TV's 'Fringe') wrote the screenplay and produced via Frequency Films with Neal H. Moritz's Original Film. IM Global financed the $30 million movie. Film District has the R-rated thriller in 2,188 theaters and projections are for an opening in the $5 million range.
On the specialty front, Roadside Attractions is rolling out director Peter Webber's historical war drama 'Emperor,' which stars Tommy Lee Jones, Matthew Fox and rising Japanese star Eriko Hatsune.
Set in post-World War II Japan, during the American occupation, the PG-13 rated 'Emperor' is based on the real-life drama behind the decision of whether to try Emperor Hirohito for war crimes. Jones plays Gen. Douglas MacArthur - the de facto ruler of Japan - and Fox plays Gen. Bonner Fellers, who lead the investigation of Hirohito.
It will be in 259 theaters, mostly in the top 75 markets.
IFC Films will debut the drama 'Beyond the Hills,' Romania's nominee for the Best Foreign Language Oscar, in three theaters.
The film is directed by Cristian Munglu and stars Cristina Flutur and Cosmina Stratan as two young women at an Orthodox convent in Romania. It premiered at Cannes last year where Munglu won the award for best screenplay and Flutur and Stratan shared best actress honors.
Cinedigm is releasing 'Don't Stop Believin': Everyman's Journey' in 20 theaters nationwide. It's a documentary on Arnel Pineda, who was plucked from YouTube to become the new singer for the rock band Journey.
The 'ABCs of Death' is an anthology horror film from Magnolia Pictures produced by Ant Timpson and Tim League that will debut in about 20 theaters. It's made up of 26 different shorts, each by different directors, all dealing with death. It premiered at last year's Toronto Film Festival and has been out on video on demand since January.
The studio will roll out its 3D CGI extravaganza in nearly every major foreign territory this weekend - France comes next week, China on March 29 - and analysts say it could exceed its domestic haul at the international box office. It debuts Thursday in 27 territories, including Russia, Germany, Australia, South Korea and Italy. By Friday it will be in 46 markets, including openings in the U.K., Japan, Mexico, Spain and Brazil.
The domestic and foreign debuts make this first weekend critical for Disney, which has very much front-loaded its box-office gamble on 'Oz,' which carries a $200 million production budget and a marketing budget at least half that size.
Disney's head of distribution Dave Hollis acknowledged that the stakes are high.
'With the Disney brand and an iconic, revered property like this, of course it's a big bet,' Hollis told TheWrap. 'But when you ally yourself with filmmakers like Sam Raimi and Robert Stromberg, you reduce some of the risks. We feel really good about this.'
Raimi, director of the first three 'Spider-Man' movies, is at the helm of 'Oz.' James Franco stars as a circus magician sucked via tornado to Oz, where the residents mistake him for a wizard who will free them from the wicked witches. Mila Kunis, Michelle Williams and Rachel Weisz co-star.
Stromberg is the production designer, and had the same role on the film most often compared with 'Oz,' the similarly big-budget and effects-laden 'Alice in Wonderland.' That Disney film starred Johnny Depp and made more than $1 billion in 2010, with the vast majority - $690 million - coming from abroad.
As a literary work, 'Alice in Wonderland' is more well-known globally than 'The Wizard of Oz,' a very American property. But even 'John Carter,' the mega-budget sci-fi adventure flop that resulted in a $200 million write down for Disney last year, took in $209 million overseas, compared to $73 million domestically.
'I think 'Oz' is a much better bet to open with $100 million overseas than in the U.S.,' Exhibitor Relations senior vice-president and senior analyst Jeff Bock told TheWrap.
'Oz' will debut Friday in 3,912 North American theaters. Around 3,055 of those will be 3D, and 307 will be Imax theaters, both of which will be charging premium prices.
Families - who largely steered clear of Warner Bros.' similarly pricey CGI epic 'Jack the Giant Slayer' last week - are expected to turn out in force for 'Oz.' Its PG rating will help there, though parents should know there are some intense moments - heightened by the 3D - that caused at least one 5-year-old to jump into her father's lap three times during a screening.
TheWrap's reviewer Alonso Duralde loved it, but 'Oz' has only a lukewarm 62 percent positive rating on Rotten Tomatoes (the more telling number there may be the 99 percent 'want to see' figure). Movie Review Intelligence has it at 54 percent positive.
'Oz' has accounted for nearly 80 percent of the presales at online ticket broker Fandango this week and, in a positive sign for Disney, 66 percent of those responding to a survey on the site said they would bring their families.
'Oz the Great and Powerful' isn't the only movie opening this week.
Colin Farrell and Noomi Rapace ('Prometheus') star in Film District's neo-noir revenge thriller 'Dead Man Down.' Farrell plays a man who has infiltrated the crime empire run by a ruthless kingpin (Terence Howard) for his own very definite reasons, while his neighbor (Rapace) wants his help to carry out her own plans for retribution.
Danish filmmaker Niels Arden Oplev, who directed Rapace in the original 'Girl With the Dragon Tattoo,' makes his U.S. debut on the film.
Farrell's has underwhelmed in his last two outings as a leading man. 'Seven Psychopaths' was a critical fave but opened to just $4 million in October and topped out at $28 million for CBS Films. And no one forgot Arnold Schwarzenegger after Farrell's turn in last summer's 'Total Recall' remake, which slogged to a $59 million domestic total for Sony.
J.H. Wyman (TV's 'Fringe') wrote the screenplay and produced via Frequency Films with Neal H. Moritz's Original Film. IM Global financed the $30 million movie. Film District has the R-rated thriller in 2,188 theaters and projections are for an opening in the $5 million range.
On the specialty front, Roadside Attractions is rolling out director Peter Webber's historical war drama 'Emperor,' which stars Tommy Lee Jones, Matthew Fox and rising Japanese star Eriko Hatsune.
Set in post-World War II Japan, during the American occupation, the PG-13 rated 'Emperor' is based on the real-life drama behind the decision of whether to try Emperor Hirohito for war crimes. Jones plays Gen. Douglas MacArthur - the de facto ruler of Japan - and Fox plays Gen. Bonner Fellers, who lead the investigation of Hirohito.
It will be in 259 theaters, mostly in the top 75 markets.
IFC Films will debut the drama 'Beyond the Hills,' Romania's nominee for the Best Foreign Language Oscar, in three theaters.
The film is directed by Cristian Munglu and stars Cristina Flutur and Cosmina Stratan as two young women at an Orthodox convent in Romania. It premiered at Cannes last year where Munglu won the award for best screenplay and Flutur and Stratan shared best actress honors.
Cinedigm is releasing 'Don't Stop Believin': Everyman's Journey' in 20 theaters nationwide. It's a documentary on Arnel Pineda, who was plucked from YouTube to become the new singer for the rock band Journey.
The 'ABCs of Death' is an anthology horror film from Magnolia Pictures produced by Ant Timpson and Tim League that will debut in about 20 theaters. It's made up of 26 different shorts, each by different directors, all dealing with death. It premiered at last year's Toronto Film Festival and has been out on video on demand since January.
Ford, Fisher, Hamill in talks for new "Star Wars": source
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - 'Star Wars' original cast members Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher and Mark Hamill are in talks to join the next installment of the science-fiction franchise, a person with knowledge of plans for the new film told Reuters on Thursday.
The source, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said lawyers had the contracts for all three actors and that an announcement would be made soon.
Representatives for Ford, who played Han Solo in the first three films, declined to comment.
Reuters was unable to reach representatives for Hamill, who played Luke Skywalker from 1977 to 1983.
Fisher, who played Princess Leia in the first 'Star Wars' trilogy, got the rumor mills buzzing this week after saying she would reprise her role in the new film, due in theaters in 2015, in an interview with U.S. magazine Palm Beach Illustrated.
Fisher's spokeswoman, Carol Marshall, would not comment to Reuters on Fisher's involvement in the upcoming film.
Disney bought George Lucas' Lucasfilm company in October 2012 for $4.05 billion, and announced three new installments of the widely popular 'Star Wars' franchise, which has grossed more than $4.4 billion at the global box office.
Fans of the franchise have been eager to know whether any of the original cast members would be back.
Bloomberg Businessweek on Thursday first reported in an interview with Lucas that the trio were in negotiations to join the new film.
Lucasfilm spokeswoman Lynn Hale was unable to confirm whether all three stars would be returning for 'Star Wars: Episode VII.'
The new film will be helmed by 'Star Trek' director J.J. Abrams, and will be written by Oscar-winning screenwriter Michael Arndt.
(Reporting By Eric Kelsey and Ronald Grover, additional reporting by Piya Sinha-Roy; Editing by Doina Chiacu)
The source, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said lawyers had the contracts for all three actors and that an announcement would be made soon.
Representatives for Ford, who played Han Solo in the first three films, declined to comment.
Reuters was unable to reach representatives for Hamill, who played Luke Skywalker from 1977 to 1983.
Fisher, who played Princess Leia in the first 'Star Wars' trilogy, got the rumor mills buzzing this week after saying she would reprise her role in the new film, due in theaters in 2015, in an interview with U.S. magazine Palm Beach Illustrated.
Fisher's spokeswoman, Carol Marshall, would not comment to Reuters on Fisher's involvement in the upcoming film.
Disney bought George Lucas' Lucasfilm company in October 2012 for $4.05 billion, and announced three new installments of the widely popular 'Star Wars' franchise, which has grossed more than $4.4 billion at the global box office.
Fans of the franchise have been eager to know whether any of the original cast members would be back.
Bloomberg Businessweek on Thursday first reported in an interview with Lucas that the trio were in negotiations to join the new film.
Lucasfilm spokeswoman Lynn Hale was unable to confirm whether all three stars would be returning for 'Star Wars: Episode VII.'
The new film will be helmed by 'Star Trek' director J.J. Abrams, and will be written by Oscar-winning screenwriter Michael Arndt.
(Reporting By Eric Kelsey and Ronald Grover, additional reporting by Piya Sinha-Roy; Editing by Doina Chiacu)
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