TLK

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_DreamWorks_Pictures_films#2010s Fright Night, Cowboys and Aliens and I Am Number 4. Yep, they need a breakout hit.

BTW, Dreamworks' last 5 movies - A Thousand Words, People Like Us, Lincoln, The Fifth Estate and Delivery Man. Four of the five are legit bombs so they need a big hit. Need For Speed is next but video game adaptations have always been risky so the studio leadership is in bit of a trouble.

Her accent was beyond horrible but I am sure she helped with the box office. The movie had a price tag of $160 million and it made $300 million Worldwide so that's not very good but hardly a disaster.

They needed Kate Beckinsale. Van Helsing was also a mostly shit movie but she helped save it.

Sanders is good with visuals but like most directors transitioning from the world of commercials he will need a good editor and a great script to make a really good movie.

Yeah, I remember the trailer but the reports about internal problems surfaced after the trailer was released and things have been pretty quiet since then.

Noah ? Are they even releasing it in two months' time ? Everything is so quiet about that movie.

Radius-TWC picked it up so my guess is that it will be 50-100 theaters + VOD release.

He is great in On The Road. It is an impossible role to pull off in an unadaptable movie but he did a really good job. Tron is just not a good movie to judge his performance. Not even Jeff Bridges did well in that movie. Country Strong is another movie where the quality of movie held him back.

Good choice. Hedlund is one of the most underrated actors in Hollywood.

It is a J C Chandor movie so I don't think a big distributor was likely to come on board. A24 have a good track record so they are up there with any of these so-called second-tier distributors.

DEALS AND SALES LAND HO! has been picked up by Sony Pictures Classics for domestic distribution. The film centers on two ex-brothers-in-law who decide to reclaim their youth by trekking across Iceland, stopping at trendy spas and nightclubs along the way. It was written and directed by Martha Stephens and Aaron Katz, who are repped by UTA. The Weinstein Co. and Netflix are both interested in picking up FED UP, which centers on child obesity and the government’s involvement in the issue. Weinstein and Netflix are eying the project after CNN films passed. Stephanie Soechtig directed the documentary. GOD’S POCKET has been picked up by Electric Entertainment for international distribution. The film centers on a man who tries to cover up the accidental death of his stepson. The project marks John Slattery’s directorial debut. Philip Seymour Hoffman, Christina Hendricks, John Turturro and Caleb Landry Jones star. Slattery is repped by Gersh. A24 has purchased domestic rights to A MOST VIOLENT YEAR from Participant Media. The film stars Jessica Chastain and Oscar Isaac and centers on an immigrant in New York trying to make a living for himself and his family, while also colliding with the organized crime in the area. WME-repped J.C. Chandor wrote the project and will direct. IFC has a $2 million deal in place for North American rights to COLD IN JULY. In the film, Michael C. Hall plays a man who kills a burglar in self-defense, prompting the burglar’s father to vow vengeance. Sam Shepard, Don Johnson and Vinessa Shaw also star, with Jim Mickle directing. DEAD SNOW: RED VS. DEAD, the sequel to the horror zom-com “Dead Snow” has been picked up by USA Entertainment for domestic rights. Written by Stig Frode Henriksen, Vegar Hoel and Tommy Wirkola and directed by Wirkola, the film centers on a small group of people that stands in the way of a squad of nazi zombies and the destruction of Norway. Wirkola is repped by CAA. http://www.tracking-board.com/sundance-deal-report-01-22-14/

Jeff Wells is on a roll. he walked out of two movies in a row. Blocking Mechanism Jim Mickle‘s Cold in July didn’t cut it either. I bailed about halfway through. The part I saw felt like a Jim Thompson melodrama mixed with the kind of low-rent VOD film that throws in a totally unexpected third-act-plot-twist because viewers won’t expect it. I’d read the reviews, I knew what was coming…later. But the main issue (and I’m not saying this just to sound eccentric or obstinate) is Mickle’s decision to have his lead actor, Michael C. Hall, wear a mullet. My heart sank when I saw it. A brick wall. I tried to get past it but I couldn’t. I should have just walked out when I saw the damn thing but I stupidly hung in there.............. http://www.hollywood-elsewhere.com/2014/01/blocking-mechanism/ Seriously, go and read his blog. It is pretty awesome these days.

Peter S. Hall ‏@PeterSHall 3m Strange timing that Quentin Tarantino shelves a film due to a leak right after Weinstein says he doesn't want to make violent movies, no?

The problem with Oscars is that only 6-8 Studio/distributors have the resources to compete . They pick 1-2 movies each and then campaign the heck out of them so we are basically left with 10-20 movies competing for everything .It makes no difference if the BP category allows only 5 or up to 10 entries.

DEALS AND SALES Ira Sachs’ LOVE IS STRANGE has been picked up by Pretty Pictures for French distribution. The film stars John Lithgow and Kelly Reilly and centers on a married couple whose relationship is strained when one of their uncles moves in with them. Sachs is repped by WME. Fox Searchlight has secured rights for the U.S. and various overseas territories for the film CALVARY. The film, written and directed by John Michael McDonagh, stars Brendan Gleeson as a priest who is told by a man that he will be killed in one week because he has never done anything wrong. McDonagh is repped by UTA. http://www.tracking-board.com/sundance-deal-report-01-21-14/ The Skeleton Twins was bought by Roadside Attraction/LGF and SPWA (International Rights).

Honestly I don't think he had any intention of making this movie. Why would he go to actors first instead of producers ?

After more of my attempt to persuade him to let things die down–he made a mission movie in Inglourious Basterds and a Western-style film in Django Unchained, so who wouldn’t want to see him tackle a true ensemble Western?–Tarantino allowed that “I could totally change my mind, I own the fucking thing. But I can tell you, it’s not going to be the next thing I do. It’s my baby, and if the muse calls me later to do it, we’ll do it. I was thinking about the idea of maybe publishing it before I made it, but now that deal happens for sure, and I’m not doing it next.” The other script was one he had on his mind lately, so it might not take that long. “The idea was, I was going to write two scripts,” he said. “I wasn’t going to shoot the Western until next winter, and I have been full of piss and vinegar about the other one. So now I’ll do that one.” He hopes that this might cause reps and actors to be more discreet. When I broke news of the script’s title, I said I’d heard that the actors it went included Dern, and Christoph Waltz. I was wrong about the latter. Instead it was Madsen, star of Reservoir Dogs and the Kill Bill films, and Pulp Fiction star Roth. “I hadn’t given it to Christoph, I haven’t given it to Sam Jackson,” he said. “I gave it to three motherfucking actors. We met in a place and I put it in their hands. Reggie Hudlin’s agent never had a copy. It’s got to be either the agents of Dern or Madsen. Please name names.” :lol:

Yep. This is why Oscars are a joke for the most part. I used to think that only about 20 or so movies have any realistic chance at competing for Oscars but this number is far worse. I am not sure if going back to 5 BP contenders will change things that much.

These portraits are awesome. These are from Day 1. http://www.ew.com/ew/gallery/0,,20469830_20777076,00.html

Devin Faraci ‏@devincf 6m Secret screening rumor: NYMPHOMANIAC. I'm sticking with THE RAID 2. Makes perfect sense. Nymphomaniac didn't land great distribution deal in the US so debuting at Sundance will give it a pretty good boost.

Song One Review. The main complaint is that it is a bit thin on substance but I think I will like the movie. Anne Hathaway has always been excellent in smaller movies and her co-star Johnny Flynn is getting good reviews as well. http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/review/song-one-sundance-review-672686

Jeff Wells also walked out of Song One. Damn Goo-Goo EyesI’m sorry but Kate Barker-Froyland‘s Song One struck me as way too gentle, delicate and sensitive for its own good. Way. I left after 45 minutes. The part I saw seemed like a musical (i.e., music-augmented) love story in the vein of John Carney‘s Once and Can A Song Save Your Life?. It’s about an anthropologist (Anne Hathaway) who is summoned by her mother (Mary Steenburgen) to return to Manhattan to attend to her musician brother, who’s submerged in a coma after a car accident. Before long Hathaway watches an amiable, somewhat famous folk singer (Johnny Flynn) perform at a club. She introduces herself and tells him of her brother’s condition. (The brother has had some kind of vague relationship with Flynn or is big fan of his or something.). Anyway they start going out and attending clubs and sitting on rooftops and making eyes at each other. Goo-goo eyes, actually. After the sixth or seventh time that Flynn looked at Hathaway like a five-week-old puppy, I muttered to myself “okay, that’s it” and I got up and left. No offense.

Song One is getting mixed to positive reviews so it isn't a slam-dunk but it shouldn't have any problem finding a top-tier buyer. There is this though - film.com ‏@filmdotcom 2h yikes. RT @rkylesmith: Many walking out of mopey, soporific Anne Hathaway Bklyn hipster musical SONG ONE. Including me. #Sundance2014

I thought so much love for American Hustle back in December/ early January was over the top but the backlash against it is even worse. It shouldn't be getting so much hate.