‘Avengers’ Cast And Stingy Marvel Ready To Rumble Over Sequel Cash & Strong-Arming

By NIKKI FINKE

Robert Downey Jr is set for another huge payday from a mega-hit Marvel movie, this time Iron Man 3. I’ve learned he’s already made $35 million from the actioner, which grossed $680 million worldwide in its first 12 days. He should exceed his biggest payday to date — that $50M from The Avengers which I’ve learned was more like $70M-$80M now that the film is all in. But it’s really Avengers 2 where he’ll clean up big-time — if he wants to reprise the role. He’s hinting to some media it may be time to retire Tony Stark. And saying to other outlets that Marvel better show him more money for Avengers 2. ”I don’t know,” he said on The Daily Show. ”I had a long contract with them and now we’re gonna renegotiate.” (“You are Iron Man! You are!” cheered Jon Stewart.)

I’ve learned that Marvel and therefore owner Disney are going to run into big trouble on that sequel because the upfront pay, backend compensation, break-even points and box office bonuses aren’t pinned down yet for several big stars and castmates. This is major hurdle that Walt Disney Co Chaiman/CEO Bob Iger hasn’t even mentioned to Wall Street or shareholders though he’s already been hyping Avengers 2 for more than a year now.


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Hammond On Roger Ebert – An Appreciation

By PETE HAMMOND

Certainly Roger Ebert will be remembered for many things. Winning an unprecedented Pulitzer Prize in 1975 for film criticism is just one of them. For me, though, beyond that distinction Roger was far more unique in the pantheon of the truly great critics of our time, and all time. Along with Gene Siskel he figured out a way to take film criticism to the masses in a way it never really had been, at least on a national basis. With their patented ’2 Thumbs Up’ and ’2 Thumbs Down’ reviews on their pioneering PBS and later syndicated weekly TV show, this pair not only brought the job of a film critic into the national consciousness, they also made it fun. And accessible. The ‘thumbs’ signature was really the forerunner of a site like Rotten Tomatoes, an instantly recognizable label that moviegoers could use like a Good Housekeeping Seal of Approval when it appeared in an ad as it did hundreds of times.

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Sundance Institute to host summer film festival in Los Angeles

by Hillary Busis

The good news: Sundance is holding a second film festival this year. The better news: For once, attendees can leave their fashionable parkas at home.

The Sundance Institute announced today that it will be hosting a four-day summer film festival called Next Weekend in Los Angeles this August. Next Weekend will be an extension of Sundance proper’s “Next” section, which launched in 2010 and features “stylistically adventurous films that take a bold approach to storytelling,” such as Zal Batmanglij’s sound of my voice and Mike Birbiglia’s Sleepwalk With Me.

Next Weekend will run Aug. 8-11 and includes screenings of eight features, a shorts program, a panel discussion, and ShortsLab: Los Angeles, the Institute’s annual short-filmmaking workshop. “The best part of independent filmmaking is the freedom to tell your stories your own way, to take risks and not be beholden to convention of any kind,” Sundance president and founder Robert Redford said in a statement. “At the core of Next Weekend are artists that are taking risks and pushing boundaries. As such, it’s fitting that Sundance Cinemas will be the home for this festival and these films.”

The mini-fest’s schedule will be announced this summer.

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Oscars 2013: Life of Pi wins 4 Oscars, Argo takes 3 including Best Picture

Best motion picture
• Argo, Grant Heslov, Ben Affleck and George Clooney, Producers

Achievement in directing
• Life of Pi, Ang Lee

Performance by an actor in a leading role
• Daniel Day-Lewis in Lincoln

Performance by an actress in a leading role
• Jennifer Lawrence in Silver Linings Playbook

Performance by an actor in a supporting role
• Christoph Waltz, Django Unchained

Performance by an actress in a supporting role
• Anne Hathaway, in Les Misérables
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Man of Steel MPAA Rating Revealed

Warner Bros. Pictures’ highly-anticipated Superman movie, Man of Steel, has been rated by the MPAA. The film has received a PG-13 rating “for intense sequences of sci-fi violence, action and destruction, and for some language.” Sounds good, right?

Flying into 3D, 2D and IMAX theaters on June 14, the Zack Snyder-directed action adventure stars Henry Cavill, Amy Adams, Michael Shannon, Kevin Costner, Diane Lane, Laurence Fishburne, Antje Traue, Ayelet Zurer, Christopher Meloni, Russell Crowe, Michael Kelly, Harry Lennix and Richard Schiff.

In the film, a young boy learns that he has extraordinary powers and is not of this Earth. As a young man, he journeys to discover where he came from and what he was sent here to do. But the hero in him must emerge if he is to save the world from annihilation and become the symbol of hope for all mankind.

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Todd McCarthy Picks 15 Films to Look Forward to in 2013

by Todd McCarthy

The arrival of quite a few strong films over the past four months allows us to bid farewell to 2012 reasonably well satisfied with the year overall. The all-but-guaranteed grimness of any year’s January-March releases promises to dash whatever residual good cheer carries over into the new year, but, looking a bit further down the line, a number of upcoming films involve intriguing talents applying themselves to potential interesting material to mark them as must-sees.

Surveying various lists of films due to be released in 2013, the following 15 jumped out, for various reasons, as ones I’m most eagerly anticipating. They are listed, more or less, in order of their scheduled release dates.

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‘Lincoln,’ ‘Django Unchained’ Come on Strong in Golden Globes Movie Nominations

“Lincoln,” “Django Unchained,” “Life of Pi,” “Zero Dark Thirty” and “Argo” are the nominees for Best Motion Picture, Drama at the Golden Globes, the Hollywood Foreign Press Association announced on Thursday.

In the Motion Picture, Comedy or Musical category, nominees are “Best Exotic Marigold Hotel,” “Les Miserables,” “Moonrise Kingdom,” “Salmon Fishing in the Yemen” and “Silver Linings Playbook.”

Steven Spielberg’s “Lincoln” led all films with seven nominations, followed by “Argo” and “Django Unchained” with five and “Les Miserables,” “Silver Linings Playbook” and “Zero Dark Thirty” with four.

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