‘The Last Jedi’ To Close 2017 With A Bang

By Armando

Lucasfilm Ltd. – Walt Disney Studios


Its certainly not surprising for a Star Wars movie to top the year-end boxoffice list. Save for Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones in 2002, every single episode in the Star Wars series has topped the annual box-office list since it all began in 1977.

Still, to do it in mere 3 weekends is impressive. As of today, Wednesday Dec 28, boxoffice.com is reporting that the second installment of the Star Wars sequel trilogy is at $444.9 million domestically after another $21.5 million on Wedneday.

As 2017 draws to a close, “Star Wars: The Last Jedi” is expected to lead the upcoming weekend once again, with estimates around $57 million per boxofficemojo.com. That should be enough to surpass Beauty and the Beast’s $504 million and end the year as the top grossing domestic film, just in time before New Year’s Eve celebrations.

Overseas, Luke Skywalker and company is just as potent: the film is expected to cross $900m today and will join the $1 billion club in the next few days, most likely and quite fittingly on Sunday, the last day of the year.

The Last Jedi’s boxoffice haul marks the third year in a row that a Star Wars film closed the year on top after 2015’s “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” and last year’s “Rogue One: A Star Wars Story.”

Other films also making noise are Dwayne Johnson’s action comedy “Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle,” and Universal’s “Pitch Perfect 3″, the third and final film in the Pitch Perfect trilogy. Both are expected to finish strong this weekend in the 2nd and 3rd spot respectively.

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Gerard Butler Is Back In Action In “Den of Thieves” Trailer

By Creative Media Times

Butler plays a tough cop in the recently released heist action thriller film from director Christian Gudegast.

The film sees Butler as on-edge Los Angeles cop Nick Flanagan, going after a group of dangerous outlaws planning a major heist on the Federal Reserve Bank in downtown Los Angeles. “You’re not the bad guys, we are,” Butler confessed in trailer.

The shoot-em-up film does seem like a modern-day version of the 1995 Michael Mann classic “Heat,” as advertised on the movie’s facebook page, and that hopefully will be a good thing. Here we see Butler mirroring Al Pacino’s Lt. Vincent Hanna as he pursues the bank robbery crew. Whether someone is actually going to step into De Niro’s role, we will soon find out.

Butler and Gudegast previously collaborated in “London Has Fallen” (2016) where Butler starred as a secret service agent while Gudegast wrote the screenplay. “Den of Thieves” marks Gudegast’s directorial debut.

From a script by Gudegast and Paul Scheuring, the film also stars O’Shea Jackson Jr., Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson, Maurice Compte, Sonya Balmores, Pablo Schreiber, Evan Jones, Dawn Olivieri, Mo McRae, and UFC Featherweight Champion Max Holloway.

Here’s the film’s synopsis:

DEN OF THIEVES is a gritty Los Angeles crime saga which follows the intersecting and often personally connected lives of an elite unit of the LA County Sheriff’s Dept. and the state’s most successful bank robbery crew as the outlaws plan a seemingly impossible heist on the Federal Reserve Bank of downtown Los Angeles.

Den of Thieves will be released on Jan. 19, 2018.

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First Trailer For Peter Jackson’s “Mortal Engines”

By Creative Media Times

Universal Pictures . Youtube


Peter Jackson is set to return to cinemas next year with “Mortal Engines,” a science fiction action adventure film based on the novel of the same name by Philip Reeve.

This week, Universal Pictures has released the trailer to the effects-heavy epic film, something that Jackson’s name has been synonymous with since helming the series of films based on hobbits and the middle earth.

The trailer features action chases between cities moving on motorized wheels in futuristic, steampunk version of England that is characterized on the novel. Later we see giant mobile London devouring a small village through its flag embellished metal gates.

Intriguingly, it evokes the feel of Mad Max and Pirates of the Caribbean with Howl’s Moving Castle, all thrown in the mix. That is certainly a compliment: Mad Max series is undoubtedly one of the greatest action films in cinema history.

Jackson has written and produced the the post-apocalyptic film, with Christian Rivers directing, his feature debut. Rivers is a Jackson protégé, having worked on storyboards, visual effects on special affects on The Hobbit trilogy as well as served as its second unit director.

Starring Hugo Weaving, Hera Hilmar, Robert Sheehan, Jihae, Ronan Raftery, Leila George, Patrick Malahide, and Stephen Lang, Mortal Engines is set to open on December 2018.

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“Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again” First Trailer

By Creative Media Times

Playtone
Universal Pictures
Legendary Entertainment


Its been 10 years since the release of the original film “Mama Mia,” so its only fitting that a sequel is on the way, promising to give us an update of what the characters have been up to since. This week, Universal Pictures debuted the trailer to the sequel, aptly titled “Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again.”

The romantic comedy musical brings back Meryl Streep and Amanda Seyfried as mother-daughter pair Donna and Sophie. The trailer reveals a pregnant Sophie (Seyfried) and her worries about being a single mom. “I’m pregnant, but I don’t know how to do this by myself,” she says.

Cher, donning a blonde hair and sunglasses, appears later in the trailer, apparently playing Sophie’s grandmother Ruby. “Grandma, you weren’t invited,” Sophie says. “That’s the best kind of party little girl,” Ruby replies.

Lily James joins the ensemble cast as a younger Donna. Pierce Brosnan, Colin Firth, Stellan Skarsgård, Dominic Cooper, Andy Garcia, Christine Baranski, Julie Walters also star in the film.

The film’s teaser poster was revealed last Wednesday, highlighting the overalls worn by Streep’s Donna character in the original film.

“Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again” opens in theaters in July 20, 2018, just in time for 10th anniversary of the original film.

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Regenerate With The Doctor

BBC.
doctorwho.tv


BBC Worldwide Americas Announces New Doctor Who Lens for Facebook Camera Effects Platform; Allows Users to Experience Regeneration for the First Time Through Augmented Reality in Advance of BBC AMERICA’s Doctor Who Christmas Special

BBC Worldwide Americas today announced a new effect for the Facebook Camera Effects Platform, giving users across the globe the ability to undergo the regeneration process for the first time using Augmented Reality. Users can access the effect, created by VFX studio The Mill, through the Facebook app’s camera feature beginning December 18, 2017, just days before the historic on-screen metamorphis of Twelfth Doctor Peter Capaldi into Thirteenth Doctor Jodie Whittaker during the 2017 Christmas Special, Doctor Who: Twice Upon a Time. The Special premieres on BBC AMERICA in the U.S. and Space in Canada on December 25, and will be available in theaters nationwide for one night only on December 27, 2017 through a partnership with Fathom Events.

Everyone using the effect will experience the excitement of a regeneration first-hand as they are enveloped in the distinctive golden glow that accompanies the unique process, which allows an alien Time Lord to change into a new body. Users can be part of this iconic moment, that has accompanied each Doctor’s regeneration since the BBC series began in 1963. The Doctor Who camera effect is available worldwide and users can share their experience with friends via Facebook Stories, posting it on their Facebook page, or saving it to share elsewhere.
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First Look At Bullock And Team In “Ocean’s 8”

By Creative Media Times

Warner Bros. Pictures


“Every con has it’s pros.” That’s the clever tagline of the upcoming star-studded, all-female heist film “Ocean’s 8.”

Warner Bros. has released the first full-length trailer for the film (below), which provides a first look at what Bullock and crew has in store, as well as one intriguing blink-and-you-miss hint as to what happened to original team leader, Danny Ocean.

The trailer features Sandra Bullock as Danny Ocean’s estranged sister Debbie Ocean, promising a simple life and normalcy at a parole hearing, then later gather a group of ladies to pull off the heist of the century during the star-studded yearly Met Gala at New York City. The target: Hathaway’s $150 million necklace. In addition to the all-female crew, the trailer also features James Corden as Debbie’s confidant.

A sequel of Steven Soderbergh’s trilogy and spin-off of the “Ocean’s” movie franchise, “Ocean’s 8” features an all-star ensemble of female casts including Sandra Bullock, Cate Blanchett, Anne Hathaway, Rihanna, Mindy Kaling, Awkwafina, Sarah Paulson, and Helena Bonham Carter.

Directed by Gary Ross (The Hunger Games, Pleasantville), Ocean’s 8 is set for release on June 8, 2018. Ocean’s Trilogy star and director (Steven Soderbergh and George Clooney) now serves as Ocean’s 8’s producers.

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First Look At “The Little Stranger” From Director Lenny Abrahamson

By Creative Media Times

Focus Features


Focus Features has just revealed a first look image of “The Little Stranger,” from Irish film and television director Lenny Abrahamson.

Based on the 2009 gothic novel of same name by Sarah Waters, The Little Stranger was written by Lucinda Coxon (The Danish Girl) and stars Domhnall Gleeson (Brooklyn) as Dr Faraday, Will Poulter (The Revenant) as Roderick Ayres, Ruth Wilson (The Affair) as Caroline Ayres, and Charlotte Rampling (45 Years) as Mrs Ayres.

Abrahamson recently helmed the Oscar-winning film “Room” (2015) received academy award nominations for best picture and director, as well as earned star Brie Larson a best actress honor.

Focus Features will release The Little Stranger on August 31, 2018.

Here is the film’s official synopsis”

THE LITTLE STRANGER tells the story of Dr Faraday, the son of a housemaid, who has built a life of quiet respectability as a country doctor. During the long hot summer of 1948, he is called to a patient at Hundreds Hall, where his mother once worked. The Hall has been home to the Ayres family for more than two centuries. But it is now in decline and its inhabitants – mother, son and daughter – are haunted by something more ominous than a dying way of life. When he takes on his new patient, Faraday has no idea how closely, and how disturbingly, the family’s story is about to become entwined with his own.

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EIGHTH ANNUAL ATHENA FILM FESTIVAL TO HONOR J.J ABRAMS WITH “ATHENA LEADING MAN” AWARD

Festival takes place February 22 – 25, 2018

The Athena Film Festival (AFF) announced today that director, producer and screenwriter J.J. Abrams (STAR WARS: THE FORCE AWAKENS, STAR TREK, Alias, Felicity) will receive the 2018 Athena Leading Man Award at the eighth annual festival. The festival will celebrate Abrams’ extraordinary career and continued support and advocacy of women in the entertainment industry. The Athena Film Festival, co-founded by the Athena Center for Leadership Studies at Barnard College and Women and Hollywood, will take place February 22-25, 2018, at Barnard College in New York City.

Abrams has championed women throughout his career, advocating for female protagonists on screen, as well as strong female voices behind the camera. He introduced audiences to international spy Sydney Bristow in Alias and cast Daisy Ridley to star as Rey in STAR WARS: THE LAST JEDI. Abrams is currently writing and will direct the highly anticipated STAR WARS: EPISODE IX, which will star Daisy Ridley, Oscar Isaac and John Boyega, and will open in theaters December 20, 2019.

Past recipients of the Athena Leading Man Award include director, producer and screenwriter Paul Feig (2016) and actor and producer David Oyelowo (2017).

“I am deeply humbled to be recognized by the Athena Film Festival. Any good I’ve done has been achieved because I have worked alongside women, and I share my gratitude with all of them for being honored with this award,” said J.J. Abrams.
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Oscar Best Visual Effects Contenders Shortlisted

By Creative Media Times

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has narrowed down the list of films still in consideration for Best Visual Effects, giving us a better look at films that may eventually receive nominations.

The list features a good mix of some of the year’s most visually stunning films, franchise blockbusters (Kong: Skull Island, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol.2), and as well strong best picture contenders (Dunkirk, The Shape of Water).

As expected, a good portion of the list are sci-fi films. Many also consider Kong: Skull Island as a top contender, given the film’s highly acclaimed visual effects and that the 2005 remake won the same award, though overall, it is a solid list of films with a lot going for each.

Here is the 10 films, listed in alphabetical order:

Alien: Covenant
Blade Runner 2049
Dunkirk
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2
Kong: Skull Island
Okja
The Shape of Water
Star Wars: The Last Jedi
Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets
War for the Planet of the Apes

Films that were previously in the running but didn’t make the cut include Beauty and the Beast, Ghost in the Shell, Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle, Justice League, Life, Logan, Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales, Spider-Man Homecoming, Thor: Ragnarok, and Wonder Woman.

The official list of nominees will be announced on Tuesday, Jan. 23, with the awards ceremony taking place on March 4. For more about the announcement, go to oscars.org

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‘Star Wars: The Last Jedi’ Scores Huge Thursday Opening Gross

By Creative Media Times

Lucasfilm Ltd. – Walt Disney Studios


The day finally arrived and its a force to reckon with. “Star Wars: The Last Jedi” opens on Thursday night to $45 million, making it the second highest Thursday opening ever, next only to “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” which grossed $57 million in 2015.

Though it didn’t beat its predecessor, The Last Jedi easily beats last year’s Rogue One, which made $29 million for its Thursday night opening.

Released by the Walt Disney Co., The Last Jedi is on pace to collect around $200 million in the United States and Canada over the weekend based on its Thursday night performance. If it reaches that number, and there’s no reason to believe it won’t at this point, The Last Jedi will only be the fourth film top cross that milestone.

Internationally, “The Last Jedi” made $60.8 million from its early two day run so far through Thursday night, with more major market still to follow including China where the film opens on January 5.

This is another big news for Disney this week, if not slightly overshadowed by the recent announcement of the company’s historic $52.4 billion acquisition of 21st Century Fox assets.

Critics are also embracing the film, scoring 86 from Metacritic.com, indicating universal acclaim, with The Guardian’s Jordan Hoffman describing The Last Jedi “first post-Lucas Star Wars film that feels free to dance to its own beat.”

The Last Jedi is currently playing in theaters.

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