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October 15, 2017
Woody Allen Calls the Harvey Weinstein Scandal ‘Sad for Everybody Involved’
Woody Allen has weighed in on the Harvey Weinstein scandal, telling the BBC that it’s “sad for everybody involved” and that he hopes it doesn’t lead to “a witch-hunt atmosphere, a Salem atmosphere, where every guy in an office who winks at a woman is suddenly having to call a lawyer to defend himself.”
Allen, whose new movie “Wonder Wheel” just premiered as the closing-night selection at the New York Film Festival, has been accused of molesting his former stepdaughter Dylan Farrow.
“The whole Harvey Weinstein thing is very sad for everybody involved,” Allen said. “Tragic for the poor women that were involved, sad for Harvey that his life is so messed up. There’s no winners in that. It’s just very, very sad and tragic for those poor women that had to go through that.”
“You don’t want it to lead to a witch-hunt atmosphere, a Salem atmosphere, where every guy in an office who winks at a woman is suddenly having to call a lawyer to defend himself. That’s not right either,” he continued. “But sure, you hope that something like this could be transformed into a benefit for people rather than just a sad or tragic situation.”
Allen has worked with Weinstein on more than one occasion and says that “no one ever came to me or told me horror stories with any real seriousness. And they wouldn’t, because you are not interested in it. You are interested in making your movie. But you do hear a million fanciful rumors all the time. And some turn out to be true and some — many — are just stories about this actress, or that actor.”
Source: IndieWire film
October 12, 2017
The Unedited StoryCorps Interview: Jennifer Brooks & Jose Angel Quiñonez
Did you know that the stories you hear from us on NPR and our podcast are excerpts of interviews pulled from the StoryCorps Archive? Participants visit one of our recording locations with a friend or family member to record a 40-minute interview with the help of a trained StoryCorps Facilitator, or record a conversation using the StoryCorps App. We’re sharing this unedited interview from the StoryCorps Archive with you in its original form.
In November 2010, Jennifer Caldwell Brooks interviewed her husband, Jose Angel Quiñonez, about coming to the United States and his life here. They were recorded at our StoryBooth at the San Francisco Public Library.
Jose describes coming across the border from Mexico with his five siblings when he was nine years old. Both of his parents had passed away and the children collectively decided that it was the best option for them. “There was going to be nothing for us in Mexico and there was nobody that wanted to take care of us,” he said.
About 22 minutes into the conversation, Jose tells Jennifer about the perceptions he had of her when they first met — she was white and came from an “upper middle class, educated, wholesome family.” It wasn’t until a Thanksgiving dinner at her dad’s house that he realized they had more in common than he first thought.
Jose and Jennifer look back on their childhoods and their parallel desires to just have a “normal” life. They talk about being parents to two young children together and discuss how their upbringings affect and inform the decisions they make.
Launched in 2009, StoryCorps Historias is an initiative to record the diverse stories and life experiences of Latinos in the United states. Sharing these stories ensures that the voices of Latinos will be preserved and remembered for generations to come. Historias recordings are archived at the American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress and in a special collection at the Nettie Lee Benson Latin American Collection at the University of Texas at Austin.
All material within the StoryCorps collection is copyrighted by StoryCorps. StoryCorps encourages use of material on this site by educators and students without prior permission, provided appropriate credit is given. This interview has not been fact-checked, and may contain sensitive personal information about living persons.
Source: SNPR Story Corps
October 12, 2017
25 Years of SXSW Film Festival – Seth Rogen
To commemorate the 25th edition of the SXSW Film Festival, we will spotlight careers launched, artists discovered, powerful performances, and more from our alumni. This week’s featured artist, actor, director, writer, and producer is Seth Rogen.
Rogen has appeared in six features at SXSW. One of the most popular and talked about films from the 2017 festival was the Work-In-Progress screening of the The Disaster Artist, which he worked on with frequent collaborators James and Dave Franco. The film is set to be released in December via A24, you can check out our Q&A from the event here.
Other comedies that screened at SXSW include Knocked Up (2007, Work-In-Progress), Observe and Report (2009, Headliner), Neighbors (2014, Headliner), and the adult animated film, Sausage Party (2016, Work-In-Progress). Additionally, Rogen co-wrote, co-produced, and lends his voice talents in Sausage Party.
In 2016, SXSW also presented the world premiere of Preacher, a series developed by Rogen, Evan Goldberg, Garth Ennis, and Sam Catlin. Rogen has directed and written numerous episodes of the hit AMC TV show. At this year’s film festival Rogen, Ennis, and Catlin came back to speak on the panel, Inside the Making of Preacher.
We are thrilled to share his #SXSWFilm25 story with you.
“I love SXSW because they are the only festival that puts comedy on an equal stage with other genres. They’ve been the perfect place to launch a number of our movies and I’m sure those movies wouldn’t have found their audience the way they did without the support of the festival.”
Stay tuned to SXSW News each week for more 25th edition stories.
Join Us For SXSW 2018
Grab your Film Badge today for primary access to all SXSW Film events including world premieres, roundtables, workshops, and parties. Register to attend by Friday, October 20 and save before prices go up in November. Make your hotel reservations through SXSW Housing & Travel for the best available rates. We hope to see you in March!
Follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and SXSW News for the latest SXSW coverage, announcements, application tips, and updates.
The Disaster Artist – Photo by Matt Winkelmeyer/Getty Images for SXSW
The post 25 Years of SXSW Film Festival – Seth Rogen appeared first on SXSW.
Source: SxSW Film
October 12, 2017
How to Harness the Power of Social Listening for Curating an Effective Visual Storytelling Strategy
Social listening or the practice of doing research on social media – is squarely positioned under our STORY MAKING phase of our Visual Storytelling Framework:
According to US Bureau of Labor Statistics, half of all new businesses with employees don’t make it to the fifth year. When you dig deeper and look at the high-tech sector we see that 70% of all venture-backed startups are failing. And less than 1% have a chance of becoming a unicorn.
CBInsights, who ran this report also analyzed the reasons for this staggering failure rate and found the top reasons are: the No Market Need (42%), Get Outcompeted (19%), Lack of Business Model (17%), and Poor Marketing (14%).
Translation: businesses don’t know how to vet a compelling business story that resonates with their market [highlight to tweet].
Founders are in love with their product, but their product is connected to a nice-to-have problem [highlight to tweet]. Customers don’t really consider the problem their product solves as a major pain.
And this is where the rubber meets the road for the viability of social listening in crafting a meaningful business story. In our visual storytelling workshops, I can’t stress enough the importance of developing a clear picture of your top buyer persona – the hero of your business story.
The process of developing an authentic buyer persona profile requires you to do a comprehensive research. You can run a direct interview with your customer, probe your sales team, and run social listening.
Regardless if you’re in the Business-to-Business or Business-to-Consumer, at the other end there is a human being you’re trying to improve her life with your product. So think about this as a Human-to-Human (H2H) relationship building.
The communication reality is that in today’s sharing economy, your audience is freely talking about their pains, interests on social media channels. So, if you’re working on a new product launch, listening to your audience, your competitors, top influencers – will give you an authentic picture about the market state your product is about to enter.
From this perspective, social listening goes beyond marketing. Think of it as a real-time focus group [highlight to tweet]. It always available for you to learn from and optimize your business story, product development, reputation management, customer service, public relations, influencer recruitment, and tips for enhancing your investor pitch.
All these use cases represent different types of business stories with a wide range of emotional triggers. In order for these stories to be effective, they need to function like “mirrors” and authentically reflect the must-have problem your customer is facing.
Why? Because once your customers see themselves in your story, your story becomes THEIR STORY. They empathize with your message, trust your intentions and are more inclined to act on your call-to-action [highlight to tweet].
I always recommend testing your business story with a few customers, tweak and then you can move into what we call Story Visualizing phase where you convert your business story (your big Why) into mini visual stories. This could be video explainer, infographics all the way up to AR and VR.
Once you have your visual stories created, you move to our Story Telling phase, where you develop your content marketing strategy that adapts your visual narratives to the buyer persona, the platform culture (e.g., LinkedIn vs. Instagram vs. offline event) and their stage in the buyer’s journey (i.e., Discover, Consider, Purchase, Adopt, and Advocate).
But the listening never stops.
Because once your visual storytelling strategy is in full motion, you want to continue to monitor the impact of your stories on your audience and optimize on two levels: a) your tactical approach and b) your overall business narrative viability, as market conditions, trends, audience tastes are in constant change.
On October 31st, I’ll continue discussing this important topic with David Berkowitz, Chief Strategy at Sysomos, the leading social media monitoring platform.
What you will learn:
- Why is social listening vital for crafting a business story?
- What are the core challenges marketers are facing today when researching their customer segments?
- How visual storytelling plays out into social listening?
- 2 examples of successful social listening done right
- 3 basic social listening tips you can apply to your business today
Want to know more?
Awesome! We know you’re busy, so if you simply complete this brief form below, we’ll personally send you FREE the video recording, including the audio podcast of my conversation with David Berkowitz, Chief Strategy Officer at Sysomos on our upcoming Visual Storytelling Today show.
You don’t want to miss this!
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to address during the show?
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Source: Visual Storytelling
October 11, 2017
Filmmaker In Focus: Assholes and Tragedy Girls
Assholes and Tragedy Girls premiered at the 2017 SXSW Film Festival in our Visions and Midnighters categories, these screening sections are on the funkier side and these films are definitely not for the faint of heart. Take a closer look with our Q&A with the directors below and be sure to check out our alumni blog for more information on where you can watch these films.
Assholes
Peter Vack is an actor and filmmaker from New York City. His award winning short film Send premiered at SXSW in 2014 and went on to play over a dozen other film festivals. Vack has appeared in number of SXSW films, in 2017 alone he appeared in, Dara Ju, M.F.A., and Whiskey Fist. Assholes is his first feature and won the inaugural Adam Yauch Hörnblowér Award.
Q: Tell us a little about your film?
PV: Assholes is a perverse comedy about sobriety, addiction, relapse, psychoanalysis, and poppers. That is all I want to reveal here.
Q: What motivated you to tell this story?
PV: I wrote the first act of Assholes impulsively, during a moment of sadness, to exorcise some self-hatred. I showed about twenty-five pages to my friend, Aaron Mark, who is a brilliant playwright and upon whom the male protagonist in Assholes is based.
Aaron encouraged me to do a reading, with him, my sister Betsey Brown, and myself reading the three lead roles. We had a lot of fun reading those pages, and Aaron and Betsey encouraged me to keep writing; but I abandoned Assholes for about two years to write dozens and dozens of drafts of another script for a film that would require a much larger budget to produce. When that film didn’t come together as quickly as I hoped, I felt frustrated in the same way as when I began writing Assholes. So I added a second and third act to those original twenty five pages, making sure to keep the film as contained as possible — only using people and places I had immediate access to — so that Assholes could be made as cheaply as possible. I showed the script to Betsey and Aaron and they encouraged me to make the film. But I was afraid. Ultimately it was Betsey who pushed back hard against my fear and told me I had to take the risk. I am very grateful to her.
Q: What do you want the audience to take away from this film?
PV: I would like for the audience to have an experience watching the film, but I am comfortable knowing that each audience member’s experience will be different.
Tragedy Girls
Originally from Canada, Tyler MacIntyre graduated from AFI with an MFA in 2010. MacIntyre has been mentored by leading industry icons including Peter Bogdanovich and Roger Corman, which helped shape his passion for crafting genre films with a unique voice. His feature debut, the horror-comedy Patchwork won awards at ScreamFest and Toronto After Dark.
Q: Tell us a little about your film?
TM: At its heart, it is a story about two friends having one last hurrah before going off to college… but for them a ‘hurrah’ means starting a murder spree in their high school, and blowing it up on social media. They want to be both victim and perpetrator, journalist and viewer, and even though their outlook on life is warped – it is primarily a story about friendship.
Q: What motivated you to tell this story?
TM: I love playing with the audiences expectations, so stories that subvert genre in interesting ways often appeal to me. This script was originally a very straight-forward slasher narrative which I didn’t connect to, but in rewriting with Chris Hill we were able to find a more satirical angle, equating the narcissism in our characters’ social media presence with literal psychopathic narcissism – which created a lot of really fun opportunities.
Q: What do you want the audience to take away from this film?
TM: This is primarily meant to be a fun ride, but there are definitely elements that I hope cause people to think more critically about the media they consume, and how it can disassociate us from the consequences violent events have for real people.
Join Us For SXSW 2018
Grab your Film Badge today for primary access to all SXSW Film events including world premieres, roundtables, workshops, and parties. Register to attend by Friday, October 20 and save. Make your hotel reservations through SXSW Housing & Travel for the best available rates. We hope to see you in March!
Follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and SXSW News for the latest SXSW coverage, announcements, application tips, and updates.
The post Filmmaker In Focus: Assholes and Tragedy Girls appeared first on SXSW.
Source: SxSW Film
October 10, 2017
25 Years of SXSW Film Festival – Jeffrey Blitz, Bill & Turner Ross, and Jeff Malmberg
To commemorate the 25th edition of the SXSW Film Festival, we will spotlight careers launched, artists discovered, powerful performances, and more from our alumni with this week’s featured artists are Jeffrey Blitz, Bill & Ross Turner, and Jeff Malmberg.
Jeffrey Blitz
Jeffrey Blitz is a director and producer whose film Spellbound won the SXSW Documentary Feature Jury Award in 2002. Blitz has went on to direct Rocket Science and many episodes of hit TV shows including The Office and Parks and Recreation. Blitz re-teamed with Anna Kendrick earlier this year for the comedy Table 19, co-written by Blitz and SXSW alum Jay and Mark Duplass.
“When Spellbound premiered at SXSW, I was wrapping my first commercial directing job in Vancouver. The timing meant of the shoot meant that I actually — incredibly — missed the very first public screening of Spellbound anywhere, but producer Sean Welch and editor Yana Gorskaya were there to represent and report back. My plane landed while the movie was screening and I took a cab into town, eager to meet up with Sean and Yana to hear how it had gone. While I waited for my cohorts on a street corner in Austin, I heard first one, then another raving about this spelling bee documentary they had just seen. I was certain Sean and Yana had recruited friends to prank me so when they finally arrived to share the deliriously good news about how well it had been received and to assure me those people on the street were actual strangers, I got my first taste of the kind of breakthrough experience SXSW would be for us.”
Bill & Turner Ross
Bill and Turner Ross, more commonly know as the Ross Brothers, have had three features play at SXSW. Their first feature documentary 45365 won the jury award in 2009, Tchoupitoulas premiered in Emerging Visions in 2012, and Western screened in Festival Favorites and won the Louis Black Lone Star Award. Their most recent doc feature Contemporary Color, follows musician David Byrne’s staged event at Brooklyn’s Barclays Center to celebrate the art of Color Guard. Additionally, the brothers worked as cinematographers on the 2016 Oscar-nominated film, I Am Not Your Negro.
“Our debut at SXSW in 2009 started us down the path of an adventure we couldn’t possibly have imagined. They took a chance on a nowhere movie from nobody directors and that good faith decision demarcates our before and after.”
Jeff Malmberg
Jeff Malmberg’s feature debut Marwencol, earned him the Grand Jury Award for Documentary Feature at SXSW 2010. The film was released theatrically by the Cinema Guild and aired on PBS. Marwencol has won over 25 awards, including two Independent Spirit Awards, Best Documentary of the Year from the Boston Society of Film Critics and Rotten Tomatoes, to name a few. His newest documentary Spettacolo, co-directed by Chris Shellen, premiered at this year’s SXSW Film Festival and is currently playing in theaters. Robert Zemeckis is currently making a fiction film based on the doc starring Steve Carrell.
“SXSW changed my life by being the first to stand up and support my film Marwencol. Before SXSW, Marwencol was just this little homemade project that I made in my bedroom. I had no idea if anyone would watch it or get it, but Janet Pierson did, and playing the film at SXSW singlehandedly launched the film and my career as a filmmaker. And this year they did it again by supporting my second film, Spettacolo, which I made with my wife, Chris. They’re willing to take chances on new voices and I wouldn’t be where I am today without them.”
Join Us For SXSW 2018
Grab your Film Badge today for primary access to all SXSW Film events including world premieres, roundtables, workshops, and parties. Register to attend by Friday, October 20 and save before prices go up in November. Make your hotel reservations through SXSW Housing & Travel for the best available rates. We hope to see you in March!
Follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and SXSW News for the latest SXSW coverage, announcements, application tips, and updates.
Jeffrey Blitz – Photo courtesy of filmmaker
Ross Brothers – Photo by: Chris Saucedo
Jeff Malmberg – Photo by: Amanda Stronza
The post 25 Years of SXSW Film Festival – Jeffrey Blitz, Bill & Turner Ross, and Jeff Malmberg appeared first on SXSW.
Source: SxSW Film
October 10, 2017
Film Submission Tips: Work-In-Progress Screening
Two deadlines down and one more to go! Only a few more days until the 2018 SXSW Film Festival Late Deadline on Friday, October 20.
SXSW Film is more than happy to watch work-in-progress cuts, but there are some items to note:
- During the SXSW Film Festival submission process, the film department views work-in-progress cuts that are picture locked and include an opening slate listing what still needs to be completed.
- It is not out of the ordinary for us to watch films without their final sound mixes, color correction, or completed visual effects. However, keep in mind SXSW Programmers will only watch ONE CUT.
- If your film is selected to play at SXSW 2018, you will be required to deliver a DCP (in addition, you can deliver us a 35mm print!) of the FINAL CUT for exhibition. Please note, we will not exhibit a work-in-progress during the festival except under very rare and special circumstances.
To learn more about submitting to SXSW, watch our How To Submit Your Film video and check out our Film Submission FAQ.
Join Us For SXSW 2018
Grab your Film Badge today for primary access to all SXSW Film events including world premieres, roundtables, workshops, and parties. Register to attend by Friday, October 20 and save before prices go up in November. Make your hotel reservations through SXSW Housing & Travel for the best available rates. We hope to see you in March!
Follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and SXSW News for the latest SXSW coverage, announcements, application tips, and updates.
World Premiere of Nobodies – Photo by : Ann Alva Wieding
The post Film Submission Tips: Work-In-Progress Screening appeared first on SXSW.
Source: SxSW Film
October 10, 2017
Can’t Find Your Ideal Hotel? Join Our SXSW Hotel Waitlist
If the hotel you want is unavailable, not to worry, the SXSW Hotel Waitlist could be a great option for you. Confirming a reservation at one of our available hotels is recommended if you’re not comfortable waiting. But if you’re willing to hold out for your ideal property, read on to learn more about our hotel waitlist option.
While we do not see much movement in our hotel waitlists until mid to late February, we are able to accommodate a large percentage of waitlist requests. If we do not feel we will be able to accommodate your request, we will work with you to find other accommodations. We won’t leave you stranded!
Here are some tips to help you decide if joining the waitlist is right for you.
Getting on the Hotel Waitlist
Once you’re registered, follow the steps to book a hotel through our online reservation system. Select your check in and out dates and scroll to the bottom of the list. Properties available to waitlist for are listed below currently available hotels. Then follow the steps to book a hotel through our online reservation system.
Helpful Hint: When making your request, be sure to include any additional information about your hotel preferences in the special requests field. This helps us best accommodate your request should a room become available.
Hotel Waitlist Availability
Our hotel waitlist is limited. We close the waitlist for popular hotels once they’re beyond the number of people we will be able to accommodate. The waitlist is currently closed for some downtown hotels during the first half of SXSWeek®. Availability changes regularly as guests adjust or cancel their reservations. Check back often for an updated list. As long as you do not have a reservation with us, return to your shopping cart at any time to check for new hotel and waitlist availability.
Hotel Waitlist Policy
Registrants and other official attendees can either confirm a reservation at an available hotel OR join the waitlist. You cannot both confirm a reservation and get on the waitlist for another property.
If you have already confirmed a reservation with SXSW Housing & Travel and are considering canceling it to join our waitlist, please contact housing@sxsw.com for guidance before taking action. Do not cancel your existing reservation unless you no longer need hotel accommodations.
Canceling Your Hotel Waitlist Request
We work up until your arrival date to accommodate your waitlist request. Therefore, it is very important to cancel your waitlist request if you no longer need it, for any reason. While we never charge a penalty for canceling a waitlist request, you could face a cancellation penalty from the hotel if we book a room you no longer need within the hotel’s cancellation penalty period. Depending on the hotel, the cancellation penalty period is between 7 and 14 days of arrival.
To cancel your waitlist request, follow the link located in your waitlist confirmation email, SXSW shopping cart, or SXSW Social Account.
Helpful Hint: Check your waitlist confirmation for the hotel’s cancellation penalty policy and mark the last day to cancel on your calendar.
Questions?
Email housing@sxsw.com or call us at (512) 467-7979.
Austin, Texas skyline – Photo by Judy Won
The post Can’t Find Your Ideal Hotel? Join Our SXSW Hotel Waitlist appeared first on SXSW.
Source: SxSW Film
October 8, 2017
‘Blade Runner’ Box Office Deja Vu as ‘2049’ Starring Ryan Gosling Falls Short
Thirty-five years after the Ridley Scott sci-fi original (which was not an initial box office success but grew into a cult favorite), the long-aborning sequel “Blade Runner: 2049” had much to recommend it: rave reviews, Denis Villeneuve directing his follow-up to sci-fi Oscar-winner “Arrival”; Ryan Gosling’s first wide release since “La La Land”; a committed multi-generational smart sci-fi fan base.
So why did the movie fall short of expectations? It was expected to score at least $40 million domestically against a $155-185-million budget: $31 million marks a serious under-performer and suggests that to the extent that Villeneuve channeled the original, he may have delivered an artistic achievement that is not mainstream.
With most of the world outside Asia already playing the film, the initial foreign $81 million take will not yield $300-million worldwide — which is close to what the movie cost to make and market (shared by Alcon Entertainment and financier Sony Pictures Entertainment; Warner Bros. is the U.S. distributor-for-hire). With only about half of box office receipts returning to those who financed this visually stunning movie (which is at its best seen on the big screen), “Blade Runner: 2049” is unlikely to ever turn a profit.
This underwhelming box office doesn’t come out of nowhere. Smart sci-fi genre movies with complicated plots and big themes, iconic franchises with a strong but not necessarily wide base, and complex intellectual concepts combined with adventure/action elements do not always sustain high-end budgets.
Already this year “Alien: Covenant,” which saw Ridley Scott deep in the weeds of the franchise he started nearly four decades ago, managed only a domestic take of $74 million (barely double its opening of $36 million), while “The War for the Planet of the Apes” despite great reviews topped out at $146 million domestic. That would normally be considered good, but the production costs were higher, and the sequel dropped more than a third from the previous series effort.
“Apes” with strong foreign returns likely ekes out a small profit, while “Covenant” looks less hopeful. Both were considered by 20th Century Fox as prime franchises with further sequels considered likely (Scott has ben talking about furthering the “Covenant” story).
At least these sequels were building on a recent history of success. “Blade Runner 2049” was jumping from a visionary film which went head to head with “E.T.” in the summer of 1982, with Ridley Scott returning to sci-fi after “Alien” (he passed on the initial sequel) and featured Harrison Ford at the height of his draw after two “Star Wars” films.
The lack of first-hand awareness or interest beyond a small but intense cadre of smart sci-fi fans likely contributed to the result. That audience wasn’t huge–the $4 million Thursday preview represented about 400,000 tickets sold–but was likely the core. As strong as the reviews were, even that audience only responded with an A- Cinemascore (two grade steps below best). And the 11 per cent overall Saturday falloff — not unusual for a second day when preview totals are combined with Friday — suggests that older audiences more familiar with the original and more likely to respond to strong reviews didn’t rally behind it. (The audience skewed very male; marketing failed to draw women.)
The 163-minute length, dense plot, and the studio’s insistence on sustaining mystery about key plot elements are among the factors leading to the tepid response. (This follows similar attempts from Paramount to control plot reveals on the disappointing “mother!”) “Blade Runner 2049” was among the key players in the long-shot drive for 2017 box office parity with 2016. That looked possible when the incredible “It” opened a few weeks ago. But hopes for a continued rebound included “Blade Runner” opening to perhaps double this amount.
This tepid gross combined with two other weak new films managed to achieve a total about the same as a year ago. But unless there are strong performers ahead, increasingly it looks like the year will fall as much as five per cent below 2016.
Two other new entries, “The Mountain Between Us” (20th Century Fox) and “My Little Pony” (Lionsgate), showed mediocre results. Both represent the sort of mid-level release that increasingly finds difficulty gaining traction. An adaptation of a bestselling novel about two plane crash survivors played by sexy British stars Idris Elba and Kate Winslet, “The Mountain Between Us” managed only $10 million, weak for its $35-million budget. Like “Blade Runner 2049” director Villeneuve (“Incendies”), “The Mountain Between Us” director Hany Abu-Assad broke out when two of his Palestinian films were nominated for foreign-language Oscars (“Paradise Now,” “Omar”).
Lionsgate handled distribution for the Hasbro-financed “My Little Pony.” Its showing is yet another example of animated features not resonating as much as they normally would.
“It”
Brooke Palmer
Then there’s “It,” still third in its fifth weekend, higher than any other film released before this week since it opened. Now at $304 million, the ultimate domestic take should well exceed the $325 million.
The Top Ten
1. Blade Runner 2049 (Warner Bros.) NEW – Cinemascore: A-; Metacritic: 81; Est. budget: $155 million
$31,525,000 in 4,058 theaters; PTA (per theater average): $7,769; Cumulative: $31,525,000
2. The Mountain Between Us (20th Century Fox) NEW – Cinemascore: A-; Metacritic: 47; Est. budget: $35 million
$10,100,000 in 3,088 theaters; PTA: $3.271; Cumulative: $10,100,000
3. It (Warner Bros.) Week 5; Last weekend #2
$9,655,000 (-43%) in 3,605 theaters (-312); PTA: $2,678; Cumulative: $304,933,000
4. My Little Pony (Lionsgate) NEW – Cinemascore: A- ; Metacritic: 41; Est. budget: $XXXXX
$8.800,000 in 2,528 theaters; PTA: $3,481; Cumulative: $8,800,000
5. Kingsman: The Royal Circle (20th Century Fox) Week 3; Last weekend #1
$8,100,000 (-52%) in 3,488 theaters (-550); PTA: $2,322; Cumulative: $79,964,000
6. American Made (Universal) Week 2; Last weekend #3
$8,073,000 (-52%) in 3,031 theaters (+7); PTA: $2,663; Cumulative: $30,445,000
7. The LEGO Ninjago Movie (Warner Bros.) Week 3; Last weekend #4
$6,750,000 (-42%) in 3,611 theaters (-436); PTA: $1,869; Cumulative: $43,824,000
8. Victoria & Abdul (Focus) Week 3; Last weekend #11
$4,142,000 (+272%) in 732 theaters (+655); PTA: $5,658; Cumulative: $5,958,000
9. Flatliners (Sony) Week 2; Last weekend #5
$3,800,000 (-%) in 2,552 theaters (no change); PTA: $1,489; Cumulative: $5,958,000
10. Battle of the Sexes (Fox Searchlight) Week 3; Last weekend #6
$2,400,000 (-30%) in 1,822 theaters (+609); PTA: $1,317; Cumulative: $7,678,000
Source: IndieWire film
October 8, 2017
‘Bill and Ted 3’ Will Be Called ‘Bill and Ted Face the Music,’ Reveals Keanu Reeves
Now more than ever, the world needs to be reminded to be excellent to each other. Talk of a third “Bill and Ted” movie has kept hope alive that we’ll see Bill S. Preston, Esq. and Ted “Theodore” Logan once again, even if George Carlin’s death means Rufus won’t be joining them. Last night at New Yorker Festival, Keanu Reeves offered the whoa-worthy news that the third installment has a title: “Bill and Ted Face the Music.”
“We’re trying” to get it made, Keanu said. “There’s a script out there. We’re just trying to get it made. Show business is tough.” As for the plot, “it’s a cautionary tale. They’re supposed to save the world. But when we see them, they haven’t saved the world, and they’re married and have kids. And they’re playing to nobody. But they have to write the song…and face the music! Hopefully we’ll make it before I’m 60.”
Considering that some have speculated Keanu is actually immortal, that shouldn’t be too much of a problem. Read more here.
Source: IndieWire film