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Saturday, January 22, 2011

REFRESHING

            It is refreshing in today’s Hollywood that older actors still have a staying presence in Hollywood.  After reading an article on Nikki Finke’s Deadline (1/18/2011) regarding older actors, it was good to know that older actors like Bruce Willis, Helen Miren, and even Arnold Schwartzengger are still in the Hollywood game making power moves to create films that doesn’t necessarily include younger actors under the age of thirty. “In a move that's not exactly surprising, Summit Entertainment brought back Jon and Erich Hoeber to write another installment of Red” (Finke, 2011).  What’s so refreshing about the article is that the older actors have not been counted out in today’s Hollywood arena.  In the age of reality TV in which wannabe actors in reality TV shows, such as Jersey Shore, have a cast of people, not actors, that get by on their good looks and charms getting deals based off as such, are not included in this mix of older thespians who have true talent.  With the older thespians, their presence on the screen is not based off their good looks or charms, but rather their abilities to show on the silver screen that they get into their characters without a hitch and its not based off some “reality” trend that the Hollywood industry has gotten so used to.
            With the success of Red, it shows that even if the actors are older, and don’t have as much drawing power at the box office, they can still act and make it known that they are the masters of their craft and not some reality TV wannabes that comes along and steal the spotlight, just because the camera is on them. There are times recently that the Hollywood box office bases their success from their young audiences, because it is a new generation as such, with the new talent that is out there, the older ones still have to make things work in concordance with the roles that they have been given.  In addition, Sylvester Stallone’s The Expendables is also another example to show that these actors may be older and wiser, but at the same time, they can still draw in a crowd to show the younger generation on how to do things properly and right once and for all. 

Reference: http://www.deadline.com/2011/01/older-thesps-show-staying-power/

Friday, January 7, 2011

BIG BUDGET FOR "THE HOBBIT" TIMES TWO


A return to J.R.R. Tolkien’s stories about ancient Middle Earth, which was preceded by The Lord of the Rings trilogy in the early 2000s,  will be followed up by The Hobbit which would involve two films shot back to back will soon be in production.  What is surprising, according to Deadline.com is that Warner Bros. will be picking up the majority of the production tab along with MGM for the two movies whose prices combined are “expected to exceed 500 million” (Finke, 2011).  In addition, Warner Bros. will also handle the worldwide distribution as well and MGM would handle the domestic.
            The good to come out of this is that the two major recognizable studios, MGM and Warner Brothers are getting their acts together to produce a product that has much to live up to in regard to the preceding Lord of the Rings Trilogy.  In addition with MGM getting their acts together with the new studio heads, Gary Barber and Roger Birnbaum (who also command a dominant presence in Hollywood with their production company, Spyglass Films), things are beginning to look up for not only the film itself, but also MGM as well.  Recently, MGM has just emerged from bankruptcy with Gary Barber and Roger Birnbaum taking the helm of running the studio, and with these two high profile films in pre-production, all eyes will be on them to produce the two films that would be worthy to follow in line with the films that have already come before. 
            As stated before, Warner Bros. will be paying for the hefty price tag for the films, and also handle its distribution as well.  What is also exciting is that the two studios are working as a team financially and creatively to bring about the best product that would be worthy of J.R.R. Tolkien.  In addition, Peter Jackson (the director of the Lord of the Rings trilogy) is now making his rounds to secure the original actors from the previous films so that the films would be consistent with its characterizations.  If Peter Jackson stays on that path, Jackson and the studios involved would have another major hit, times two, on their hands. 

Reference:
http://www.deadline.com/2011/01/warner-bros-taking-worldwide-distribution-on-the-hobbit/