“This has been a journey for me that’s unlike nothing I’ve done before. It’s been a real ride and it’s still unfinished.” So said Steven Spielberg Monday night as he introduced the New York Film Festival’s “Surprise Screening,” Lincoln, though most everyone in the jammed unruly line(s) getting into the Alice Tully Hall all but knew the film starring Daniel Day-Lewis as Abraham Lincoln and Sally Field as Mary Todd Lincoln, would be the ’surprise.’
The general consensus about the film is that it is a serious contender for Oscar glory, though with the likes of Day-Lewis and a stunning performance by Tommy Lee Jones as radical Republican Congressional leader Thaddeus Stevens, as well as a script by Tony Kushner and director Spielberg, how could it not be?
The powers that be at DreamWorks and Touchstone were careful that no footage or anything of a digital nature would escape the 1000-plus seat theater. Everyone had to check anything that so much had an on/off button (through a quick scan through the crowd, one could see a few cameras/iPhones at the end of the screening). The film’s official world premiere will take place as the closing night gala of the upcoming AFI Fest in Los Angeles.
The movie opens with a rain-soaked hand-to-hand battle between north and south. The gruesome scene is reminiscent of Spielberg’s past war battles in all its tragic detail. But that is the only war scene in the two-hour-plus pic (there was confusion at the screening exactly how long it was in its current state).
“I already did Saving Private Ryan,” joked Spielberg following the screening.
The bulk of the film centers on the period after Lincoln’s re-election in 1864…
Full Story »So much for those concealed carry advocates. NBC News describes the snafu that befell one patron with a permit to carry a concealed firearm at a recent showing of The Bourne Legacy in Sparks, Nevada. “Witnesses inside the theater told officers the gun fell from the man’s pocket as he was adjusting himself in the seat,” according to the report, “and it fired when it dropped to the floor, striking him in the buttocks.”
NBC News has more: “The 56-year-old man then reportedly stood up, apologized to those around him and left the theater before police arrived. He checked himself into a nearby VA hospital in Reno, where he was treated for a gunshot wound to his buttocks, according to a police report. His injury is not considered to be life-threatening.”
While the individual reportedly did have a valid permit to carry a gun, the Century 14 theater is part of the Cinemark chain (which also owns the Century 16 in Aurora, Colorado), which does not allow guns to be carried inside of their theaters.
[NBC News]
Also in Tuesday morning’s round-up of news briefs, John Travolta will receive honors at a Swiss festival this fall. Rebel Wilson heads for a new indie project. And Woody Allen’s next film is starting to take shape.
A Look at Sylvester Stallone and Arnold Schwarzenegger in The Tomb
Swedish filmmaker Mikael Håfström is directing Stallone and Schwarzenegger in The Tomb centered on a professional on structural security who must then escape a prison of his own design. A first-look from the new pic has headed into the blog-cyber-sphere, Deadline reports
John Travolta to Receive Zurich Film Festival Honors
The Zurich Film Festival will present John Travolta with its Lifetime Achievement Award – the Golden Eye – at its festival taking place September 20 – 30. He’ll receive the award opening night ahead of the gala premiere of Oliver Stone’s Savages, THR reports.
Rebel Wilson Set for Unicorn Store
Bachelorette star Rebel Wilson will star in indie feature Unicorn Store, which Miguel Arteta is set to direct, Variety reports.
Interns Expand Law Suit Against Twentieth Century Fox
Two interns who last year sued Fox Searchlight over unpaid work on the Oscar-winning film Black Swan are now expanding their legal action to include all internships at parent company Twentieth Century Fox. Alex Footman and Eric Glatt’s latest suit could have a major impact on working practices in Hollywood, where unpaid internships have risen in recent years. Fox itself says it changed its guidelines in July 2010 to ensure that all interns are paid at least $8 an hour, The Guardian reports via THR.
Sales for Woody Allen’s Next Film to be Handled by Focus
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Also in Tuesday morning’s round-up of news briefs, John Travolta will receive honors at a Swiss festival this fall. Rebel Wilson heads for a new indie project. And Woody Allen’s next film is starting to take shape.
Sylvester Stallone and Arnold Schwarzenegger in The Tomb
Swedish filmmaker Mikael Håfström will direct Stallone and Schwarzenegger will star opposite in The Tomb centered on a professional on structural security who must then escape a prison of his own design, Deadline reports
John Travolta to Receive Zurich Film Festival Honors
The Zurich Film Festival will present John Travolta with its Lifetime Achievement Award – the Golden Eye – at its festival taking place September 20 – 30. He’ll receive the award opening night ahead of the gala premiere of Oliver Stone’s Savages, THR reports.
Rebel Wilson Set for Unicorn Store
Bachelorette star Rebel Wilson will star in indie feature Unicorn Store, which Miguel Arteta is set to direct, Variety reports.
Interns Expand Law Suit Against Twentieth Century Fox
Two interns who last year sued Fox Searchlight over unpaid work on the Oscar-winning film Black Swan are now expanding their legal action to include all internships at parent company Twentieth Century Fox. Alex Footman and Eric Glatt’s latest suit could have a major impact on working practices in Hollywood, where unpaid internships have risen in recent years. Fox itself says it changed its guidelines in July 2010 to ensure that all interns are paid at least $8 an hour, The Guardian reports via THR.
Sales for Woody Allen’s Next Film to be Handled by Focus
Woody Allen’s next untitled film starring Alec Baldwin, Cate Blachet, Louis…
In 1996, it arrived. Within a few days, it struck box office gold. And on July 3, 2013, it comes back…in 3-D! 20th Century Fox has announced plans to re-release Roland Emmerich’s original destructo-blockbuster Independence Day next year in an extra dimension, because America apparently can’t get enough of seeing Will Smith battle aliens. (Bad Boys in 3-D? Now that I’d pay to see.) Plan your 2013 ’90s sci-fi flashback movie nights accordingly. [Collider]
Todd Phillips doesn’t feel like directing the new Hangover right now, so he’s taking time to helm a cray-zay party movie where a self-declared “uncool” kid throws the bash of the century. Cars jump into pools! Music blares! Girls lick on some popsicles under Fiona Apple “Criminal” lighting! Parents call to make sure everything is going OK. It’s like a grittier version of Blank Check. I’ve been waiting for this since ‘94.
The cast is full of unknowns, but that adds something to Project X’s anonymous bacchanal. No one has to know that the spectacle is very reminiscent of Marilyn Manson’s “Tainted Love” cover video and Britney Spears’ “My Prerogative” cover video. In fact, let’s bring up either of those again.
[Plus a soupcon of “Aaron’s Party (Come Get It)” but shhhh, no telling.]
Full Story »Something fun to spice up the end of the week: 20th Century Fox has set up a telephone line for the raunchy David Gordon Green-directed December comedy The Sitter and star Jonah Hill will allegedly be answering calls at random. We unfortunately only reached his appropriately inappropriate voicemail, but you might get lucky. What would you ask? How many pleas for weight loss tips will Hill get before he tires of this nifty marketing ploy? Dial (917) 409-7838 and find out. [20th Century Fox]
Full Story »20th Century Fox and star Bruce Willis have settled on a director for Die Hard 5: John Moore (Behind Enemy Lines, The Omen), who most recently helmed the 2008 shooter pic Max Payne. The John McClane five-quel will film in Russia with a rumored $100 million budget, according to Deadline, which reports that Moore is currently in negotiations. The real question is, with the 56-year-old Willis still going strong in action hero mode 23 years after he first cracked wise in the inaugural Die Hard, will these film ever truly die, hard or otherwise? [Deadline]
Full Story »This just in from 20th Century Fox: Glee: The 3D Concert Movie will be shown specially for dedicated fans of the Fox music series on August 10, 2011 — two days ahead of the worldwide premiere — in nearly 300 theaters across the U.S. and Canada. And by “dedicated fans,” I mean anyone willing to pay $30 when tickets go on sale July 13 on the movie’s official Facebook page.
The $30 price tag will also get ticket holders “a Glee logo lapel pin, commemorative ticket and lanyard, silicone bracelet, hat, commemorative Glee RealD 3-D glasses, and backpack.” Go ahead and pre-order today! Meanwhile, check out the poster below.
