All the worthwhile movie news from the week.
Star Wars Episode VII
More names continue to come out as having meetings with J.J. Abrams to discuss Episode VII. My personal favorites (that have met with the director) are Hugo Weaving, Michael Fassbender, and Saoirse Ronan. I'd put Benedict Cumberbatch on the list, but J.J. Abrams is enough Star Trek carryover by himself. No need to get the entire band back together. On a side, some of the fan-made posters for Episode VII are ridiculously good. They continue to prove that these sorts of things should be crowdsourced instead of made by the studios.
Read: Star Wars Rumors: Who Is J.J. Abrams Eyeing for Episode VII?
More names continue to come out as having meetings with J.J. Abrams to discuss Episode VII. My personal favorites (that have met with the director) are Hugo Weaving, Michael Fassbender, and Saoirse Ronan. I'd put Benedict Cumberbatch on the list, but J.J. Abrams is enough Star Trek carryover by himself. No need to get the entire band back together. On a side, some of the fan-made posters for Episode VII are ridiculously good. They continue to prove that these sorts of things should be crowdsourced instead of made by the studios.
Read: Star Wars Rumors: Who Is J.J. Abrams Eyeing for Episode VII?
The Hateful Eight
After doing what he called a "Southern" (Django Unchained) Quentin Tarantino's next movie will be a straightforward (as much as a Tarantino film can be) Western and it has a title: The Hateful Eight. Tarantino's tried to make a Western before, but with the increased clout he has these days, will actually be able to get one to the screen. A part has already been written for Christoph Waltz (because of course it has) so look forward to a quirky, charismatic bartender.
Read: Quentin Tarantino's New Movie Sets Title, Begins Casting
After doing what he called a "Southern" (Django Unchained) Quentin Tarantino's next movie will be a straightforward (as much as a Tarantino film can be) Western and it has a title: The Hateful Eight. Tarantino's tried to make a Western before, but with the increased clout he has these days, will actually be able to get one to the screen. A part has already been written for Christoph Waltz (because of course it has) so look forward to a quirky, charismatic bartender.
Read: Quentin Tarantino's New Movie Sets Title, Begins Casting
The Wolf of Wall Street
Another nail in the coffin of the argument that The Wolf of Wall Street should have never been made (because it profited a detestable criminal): The U.S. government wants half the money Belfort made from the book and movie rights to go to victim restitution. The guy's barely made payments in the last few years, but the attention he's received because of the movie might have actually spurred the government into taking a look at how much he's paid. While it may be frightening to think that it took a Newsday reporter asking about it for the government to notice, it might result in more for the victims, so call it a win.
Read: U.S. Government Wants Jordan Belfort's Pay From Wolf of Wall Street
Another nail in the coffin of the argument that The Wolf of Wall Street should have never been made (because it profited a detestable criminal): The U.S. government wants half the money Belfort made from the book and movie rights to go to victim restitution. The guy's barely made payments in the last few years, but the attention he's received because of the movie might have actually spurred the government into taking a look at how much he's paid. While it may be frightening to think that it took a Newsday reporter asking about it for the government to notice, it might result in more for the victims, so call it a win.
Read: U.S. Government Wants Jordan Belfort's Pay From Wolf of Wall Street
Stalingrad
If you're curious about the type of movie that can beat Hollywood at the foreign box office, there's an ostensibly-English (there's no dialogue, just some text) trailer for the #1 movie in Russia last year: Stalingrad. Spoiler alert: Russkies are quite fond of lighting people on fire in their movies.
Watch: Stalingrad trailer
If you're curious about the type of movie that can beat Hollywood at the foreign box office, there's an ostensibly-English (there's no dialogue, just some text) trailer for the #1 movie in Russia last year: Stalingrad. Spoiler alert: Russkies are quite fond of lighting people on fire in their movies.
Watch: Stalingrad trailer
Foreign Box Office
Expanding on a Rant on the important of international markets, 2013 was a banner year for almost every country's box office... except one of the dwindling number of countries where Hollywood still dominates. The U.K. box office shrank for the first time in a decade with no Harry Potter or James Bond movie to pull them in. And if you're curious, Despicable Me 2 was the top performing movie across the pond.
Read: U.K. Box Office Shrinks in 2013
Expanding on a Rant on the important of international markets, 2013 was a banner year for almost every country's box office... except one of the dwindling number of countries where Hollywood still dominates. The U.K. box office shrank for the first time in a decade with no Harry Potter or James Bond movie to pull them in. And if you're curious, Despicable Me 2 was the top performing movie across the pond.
Read: U.K. Box Office Shrinks in 2013