Ahoy, squirts! Quint here with Latauro's latest and greatest detailing the wonders of downunder! Good stuff this week, squirts! Enjoy!!!
I perceive that that man hath the right sow by the ear.
AICN-DOWNUNDER
I've had a few queries from people about why the cool IMAX versions of blockbuster films don't seem to make it down here. I speculated that it was to do with the costs associated with such a venture versus the minimal amount that IMAX films seem to make down here, but it wasn't until AICN-D reader "Justin" did some branch-shaking of his own that we found out what the deal was.
Clarifies Jackie Romas: "Unfortunately the decision on whether to take (or not to take) a film is a rather complicated one. In the first instance it depends on whether the film distributor will make a print of the film available to us to take. If the print is then made available, a business model is conducted to see if the theatre will actually make money out of screening the film. The remastered films are a new phenomenon for us; they have much longer run times than traditional IMAX films (which are usually 45mins); film royalty rates (the % of the ticket admission payable to the film distributor) that are double the rates for normal IMAX films and strict programming (how often we must show the film / day) guidelines that we must commit to. This means we must be assured of the success of the film prior to committing to screen it. In most cases we can simply not be guaranteed the number of admissions required to make the film a more profitable alternative to our regular IMAX films.
One of the major blocks to us though, is that it film distributors in Australia are not willing to provide a DMR (Digital Remastered) version of the mainstream film to us unless it is a 3D version. We have simply not been offered a copy of the print of any of the 2D films such as Matrix, Star Wars, Harry Potter & Poseidon etc. The reason for this? Well the cost of the print alone is about $50,000. The distributors do not believe a 2D bigger screen version of the same film will entice enough customers along for it to be worth the investment. To be honest though, even if some of these were offered, I would only agree to a very select few (for the reasons outlined above)."
So, like I said, it's all about the money. (Although that's like guessing the reason a house burnt down is that it caught fire, so I shouldn't be too happy with myself.) It's a pity the costs are so high, but with something like IMAX, it's just unavoidable.
Ms Romas goes on to say that it's looking likely we'll at least be seeing IMAX 3D editions of both ANT BULLY and HAPPY FEET towards the end of the year. So that's some good news, particularly if you're a fan of the CGI animations.
Cheers to both Jackie and Justin.
NEWS
Proving that the film industry is not the glamorous industry it always appears to be, Eric Bana will sex Scarlett Johannson and Natalie Portman in THE OTHER BOLEYN GIRL. Bana will play King Henry VIII, Johannson will play Mary, Portman will play Anne, and Daniel Baldwin will play the ugly one. Filming begins soon in London.
After pulling out of THE FOUNTAIN, Brad Pitt and Cate Blanchett have managed to complete one entire film and sign onto another. About to be seen in Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu's latest isn't-life-depressing film BABEL, the pair will star in THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON, based on a story by F. Scott Fitzgerald. The film follows a fifty-year-old man who ages backwards after falling in love with a thirty-year-old woman. So it's one of those May-December romances that suddenly becomes a late-August-early-September romance before finally becoming a December-May thing again. Australie Cate Blanchett will, the rumour mill suggests, play the woman. David Fincher directs.
According to various reports out of Comic Con, the panel for Disney's PRINCE CASPIAN will shoot in January 2007 with an aim for a Summer 2008 release. The best bit was a quote from producer Mark Johnson, who said that neither he nor director Andrew Adamson wanted to make a sequel unless they could make it "bigger, badder and overall better than the first". Bigger is easy; you just put more unicorns and explosions and shit in there. Badder is easier; you turn the four kids into skateboarding New Yorkers, give them a CGI talking rat sidekick, and put Rik Mayall in a fur suit for Aslan. Overall better is difficult; not only does the syntax sound a bit odd when spoken aloud, but it directly contradicts the second requirement. And that's all I have to say about that.
Black Magic points us towards the official website for THE FERRYMAN, which has just recently opened. On it, you can view production stills, read the blogs, check out the trailer, and lament the fact that you're not living in New Zealand and making high-concept genre films.
The Australian SFX magazine "Smoke and Mirrors" is about to release its third issue, and in it they have a pretty cool-sounding competition. Daniel Armstrong, producer of THE DISTURBED, wants to find budding make-up artists who can design and create zombie makeup for the film. The winner will be able to wear their own make-up in the film as an extra, and will receive the credit "Additional Special Effects Make-Up Artist". They're looking for two types of zombies. The first is the Lobotomy Zombie (look up Walter Freeman for more info on this... I don't have the stomach to print the details), and the second is the Uber Zombie (the same as Lobotomy Zombies, only more mutilated). For more info, go to www.thedisturbedmovie.com, pick up the next issue of "Smoke and Mirrors", or email a picture of your entry to rodney@intermedia.com.au. The winner will be picked by Daniel Armstrong and the film's production designer.
I take my job as AICN's Australia/New Zealand correspondent very seriously, and part of that responsibility involves me ensuring that all the items I cover have some important link to one of those two great countries. I also throw that responsibility out the window whenever it pleases me, and accepted "I like Hugh Jackman" from filmmaker Stewart St John when I pressed him for some Downunder relevance. Stewart's currently editing a science fiction film he made in the US called THE NEXT RACE: THE REMOTE VIEWINGS. Says Stewart, it contained "more emphasis on story than cgi", so check out his website at www.thenextrace.com and be the first amongst your friends to say you knew all about him before he was famous and hanging out with Hugh Jackman.
AWARDS, FESTIVALS AND SCREENINGS
31ST TORONTO INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL
Guess where the first place you're going to be able to see BLACK SHEEP? You've probably already guessed from the title... frigging Canada. I don't have a problem with Canada, I was just hoping the world premiere could be held, say, within five minutes of my house. Regardless, Jonathan King's film about killer sheep terrorising New Zealand will first be seen by audiences this coming September. If you're going to be at the screening, make sure you send those advance reviews straight to the address at the bottom of this article.
2006 MELBOURNE INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL
MIFF punters will have noticed signs proclaiming the screenings of Larry Clark's WASSUP ROCKERS to have been replaced with FUNNY HA HA. Oh no, thought I; it's a repeat of the KEN PARK debacle. I begun calling local police stations offering to bail Margaret Pomeranz out, when I was informed that no such Clarkesque controversy occurred. According to MIFF publicist Louise Heseltine, it was actually down to the print arriving late, thus preventing me from writing another "censorship sucks!" rant. I miss those.
10TH RHODE ISLAND INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL
Jeremy Weinstein's feature film WIL will premiere at Rhode Island next month. The film, which seems to have come out of nowhere, is set entirely within a lift/elevator, which represents the interior of the main character's head. I was trying to figure out why the name "Jeremy Weinstein" seemed so familiar, and I'm wondering if it's the same guy that John Safran always referred to in his TV show. Only time will tell.
BOX OFFICE
New Zealand film SIONE'S WEDDING didn't do nearly as well as it did in its homeland, which is a pity as it's not a bad film. It sits down at number sixteen, whilst Australian drama JINDABYNE impressively takes the third spot.
1. PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: DEAD MAN'S CHEST
2. MY SUPER EX-GIRLFRIEND
3. JINDABYNE
4. SUPERMAN RETURNS
5. LITTLE MAN
RELEASED THIS WEEK
A feature film is made off the back of Kurt Cobain's t-shirt, a new chick flick manages to insult both chicks and flicks by its pure crapness, Germany requests you continue to not mention the war but pay money to see Germans talk about it a lot, and Owen Wilson manages the two-birds-with-one-stone feat of pissing off the movie going audience and Steely Dan simultaneously.
THE DEVIL AND DANIEL JOHNSTON
THE LAKE HOUSE
SOPHIE SCHOLL: THE FINAL DAYS
YOU, ME AND DUPREE
REVIEWS
I miss quite a few press screenings due to a crazily busy schedule that doesn't allow me much time for sleep, but the other day I organised everything carefully so I could make it to the CONFETTI screening in the city. Sure enough, I turn up at 5pm and find out it was actually at 10am. So basically, I got nothing for you.
I don't feel too guilty, though, as I'm about to supply you with about twenty-five reviews over the following fortnight, most of which will be films I'm seeing at the Melbourne International Film Festival. The first of the reports is almost finished, and each report will contain three reviews, so look for AICN's server to be clogged with my sleep-deprived ramblings over the coming days.
NEXT WEEK
- Stan Lee writes a letter to Owen Wilson asking him to get Luke to apologise for MY SUPER EX-GIRLFRIEND
- The war crimes tribunal writes a letter to Damon Wayans asking him to discipline Shawn, Marlon and Keenen Ivory for LITTLE MAN
- M. Night Shayamalan writes a letter to the general public, insisting they apologise for not "getting" LADY IN THE WATER
Peace out,
Latauro
AICNDownunder@hotmail.com
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