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First Transformers, then Voltron, then Robotech, now this…
(Reuters) - Paddington Bear, a teddy in a duffle coat who loves marmalade sandwiches and has impeccable manners, is the latest character from a children’s book to head for Hollywood aiming at movie stardom.
Warner Bros. Pictures on Friday said it was bringing Paddington Bear, the creation of British author Michael Bond, to the big screen in a live-action family comedy.
David Heyman, producer of the “Harry Potter” movies, will produce the film while writer Hamish McColl, who penned “Mr. Bean’s Holiday,” will adapt the 11 “Paddington Bear” books published between 1958 and 1979 for the big screen.
“‘Paddington Bear’ is a universally loved character and I have wanted to bring him to the screen for some years,” Heyman said in a statement. (more…)
Variety is reporting the following:
Ricky Gervais will take on the starring role in “This Side of the Truth.”
The Media Rights Capital-financed comedy shoots in the spring.
Gervais had committed to co-direct the comedy with his co-writer Matt Robinson. Pic marks Gervais’ feature directing debut and first major project since wrapping the HBO series “Extras,” which begins its third season on Dec. 18. Gervais is nominated for four Emmys for the comedy.
“This Side of the Truth” is set in a contemporary world where no one has ever lied. Gervais will play a performer who tells the first lie and harnesses its power for personal gain.
“My character works in the film industry, where actors are really readers who tell completely factual stories,” Gervais said. “My character’s a loser who’s about to lose his job, and who’s lumbering through the 1300s. All he’s got to work with is the Black Death. But once he lies and pretends he’s found lost stories, he becomes the greatest storyteller in the world.”
CNNmoney is reporting the following: “Apple is in talks with major Hollywood studios about launching a movie rental service from its popular iTunes store, according to a report Tuesday.
Apple (down $0.78 to $135.93, Charts, Fortune 500) is believed to be working towards starting the new service some time in the fall which would offer a 30-day rental for $2.99, according to the Financial Times.
A deal would allow iPod users to watch movies during the rental period without purchasing the entire film, which could be a very popular service for the millions of users of the video-enabled version of the device.
iTunes rentals could mount a serious challenge to cable and satellite TV providers who are working on offering a large library of on-demand films from the major studios, said the report.
Video on demand has been lucrative so far for cable companies like Comcast (Charts) and satellite operators like DirecTV (Charts, Fortune 500), but none of the cable operators has as many customers as Apple does.
Rights management software would allow the movies to be viewed on an iPod or iPhone, but would prevent them from being copied, according to Financial Times…”
“It is no secret that the MPAA was involved in the raid on The Pirate Bay during May last year. They kindly pressured Swedish authorities to take down the popular BitTorrent tracker a few months before the infamous raid. John Malcolm, executive vice-president of the MPAA wrote to the State Secretary (pdf), “It is certainly not in Sweden’s best interests to earn a reputation among other nations and trading partners as a place where utter lawlessness with respect to intellectual property rights is tolerated.”
In addition, it turned out that US authorities had threatened to put Sweden on WTO’s black list if they didn’t take the Pirate Bay down. This threat should have have made the Swedish government move even quicker. By now we all know that the raid was highly unsuccessful, the Pirate Bay Bay was back in action within three days, and it still is. However, this does not mean that the MPAA and US authorities have given up their goal to take the Swedes down, they continue to lobby for their cause…” –originally reported by TorrentFreak.com
Transformers: The Movie (2007) - HD DVD
The HD DVD is presented in 1080p High Definition with English, French and Spanish 5.1 Dolby Digital Plus and English, English SDH+, French, Spanish and Brazilian Portuguese subtitles. In addition to the above features that will be presented in high definition, the Transformers HD DVD will also offer the following exclusive content:
Disc 1:
Transformers H.U.D. (Heads Up Display) - In this mode, viewers can access running text-based behind-the-scenes background information on the production during the feature. Users can also watch relevant picture-in-picture b-roll and video with Bay, Spielberg and other filmmakers during select sequences.
Transformers Intelligence Mode web-enabled features consist of:
- Transformation Mode
- Health Meter
- Weapon Mode
- Robot Bio
- In Scene Indicator
- Text Ticker
- GPS
Disc 2:
Transformers Tech Inspector - Gives viewers an unprecedented look at the Transformers robots through the exquisitely detailed models created by ILM artists. Users can zoom in on each detail for a closer examination and pause and change the rotation of the models.
“According to Rated-M, the man formerly known as Larry Wachowski has officially completed his full sex change. Now, I’m not sure whether he had an actual operation, or if he just underwent hormone treatments (I’ll admit to not being an expert in this area), but Larry is now Lana Wachowski. Say goodbye to referring to the writer-director duo as the Wachowski Brothers; I imagine from here on out, the PC thing to do will be to call them The Wachowskis, or Lana and Andy Wachowski. Which is fine by me. If a sex change helps make a person feel more complete, and subsequently brings happiness to their lives, then I’m all for it. On behalf of Cinematical, we wish Lana good luck moving forward.
Interestingly enough, Lana will speak to the press about this — which is rare for the Wachowskis since they’re not ones to speak to the press about anything, let alone something this personal in nature. However, rumor has it that she will not openly speak about the sex change until after Speed Racer hits theaters on May 9. On top of that, sources say that Andy Wachowski will do all the press for the film as well for fear that the whole sex change thing could potentially harm the family-friendly film. Aside from a newly-released photo showing Lana’s full change (which you can see above, and click on to see the full pic), Rated-M also claims that Dateline NBC has nabbed the rights to Lana’s first public interview on the subject. Going forward, it will be fascinating to see how Hollywood and the Wachowski fans handle the sex change. Will everyone embrace Lana, or could this damage their careers?” — cinematical.com
Flickr user, Jimmy Crow, has posted the following 01-18-08 stills for dissection.
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