It's been hard to be a Harry Potter fan this year. Not only was the next installment, "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" delayed until next summer, we were also shocked by the decision to split the final film, "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" into two movies. It feels like we might be waiting for the cinematic finale longer than we waited for the book!
The split didn't just surprise fans - it was unexpected to the film's cast as well. When MTV News spoke to Emma Watson, we asked her if she could update us on how the film will be divided.
"I don't know," she replied. "I am as intrigued as you are. I am waiting at the moment to receive the script. It's a tough call. I'm sure it will be some cruel cliffhanger." Read more...
FROM SPLASH PAGE: If last week's preliminary judgment against Warner Bros in the "Watchmen" court battle wasn't enough to send comic book fans into a panic, today's news certainly might do the trick. According to The Associated Press, 20th Century Fox will seek a court order delaying the March 6 release of the much-anticipated adaptation of Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons' graphic novel.
The AP reports that in a response to today's announcement, an attorney for Warner Bros said "he didn't know if an appeal was coming, but thinks a trial is necessary and a settlement unlikely."
Read more about the current state of the "Watchmen" court battle at SplashPage.MTV.com.
We've seen a batch of horror franchises being tapped recently, and 2009 will be no exception. Along with bigger names like "Friday the 13th" will be "My Bloody Valentine 3-D," based on 1980's flick of the same name (but without the third dimension). The original film had the last surviving member of a mining accident awakening from his coma to slaughter dozens of folks on Valentine's Day (the holiday being the day on which the accident happened).
This "3-D" release won't be as much a remake as taking place in the same universe. It'll find the man whose negligence caused the accident returning to town ten years later, only to find young people dropping like flies again on Valentine's Day. Is there a new killer on the loose, or has the original slasher risen from the dead? We'll find out January 16, but for now check out the clip below.
FROM MTV.COM: December's end brings with it once again the curious need for movie reviewers to pretend there's some sort of objective standard by which to determine the year's best picture, director, actors and whatnot. This is an undertaking that doesn't bear extensive contemplation. If more than a thousand films were released in this country in 2008 (the figures are a little murky), you'd have to sit through two or three a day, every day of the year, to see them all. I don't know anyone with little enough of a life to manage this. Then there's the apples-and-oranges problem. "Slumdog Millionaire," "Elegy" and "Tropic Thunder" are all top-level movies, but in no way do they resemble one another; attempting to discern which among them is "the best" would be like comparing androids and avocados, with the winner facing off against a chunk of Appenzeller cheese.
But I guess best-of lists, while very light in the meaningful department, can be sort of fun. Below are some of the year's standout people and pictures, with one in each category arbitrarily allotted the top perch, and some other candidates, often equally deserving of that placement, sub-grouped below. So:
Best Picture: "The Wrestler"
Continue reading Kurt Loder’s look at the best films and performances of 2008 on MTV.com!
By Akshay Bhansali
The soundtrack for Fox Searchlight's "Slumdog Millionaire" is one of eight movie scores Indian producer/ composer A.R. Rahman put together in 2008 — and he's got several more in the pipeline. And while we're talking numbers, check this out: He's worked on more than 100 soundtracks since he started in '91, with about 60 percent of those films being Bollywood blockbusters. Some estimate his total album sales are in the vicinity of 115 million records — can Hollywood super-scorers Hans Zimmer and Danny Elfman say that?
While the bulk of the film work by the "Mozart of Madras" has been in Indian cinema, Rahman recently worked on "Elizabeth: The Golden Age" and of course "Slumdog Millionaire," Fox Searchlight's sleeper hit. For "Slumdog," Rahman cut electro-Hindi-hop tunes with the help of "Paper Planes" singer/ fellow Tamilian M.I.A. to match Danny Boyle's Mumbai-set love story. Check out the video for more about this Bollywood superstar!
There were more than a few controversies in the life of Biggie Smalls, and just one of them is the love triangle between the late-MC, his wife Faith Evans and budding rap superstar Lil 'Kim. The affair isn't danced around in "Notorious," the upcoming biopic on B.I.G., and we've got an exclusive scene from the film that showcases the scandalous relationship in all its awkward glory.
Check it out after the jump and then click here for the background. "Notorious" hits theaters January 16. Read more...
On behalf of the entire MTV News family, we'd like to wish you a very happy and safe holiday weekend. Barring any breaking stories (i.e. declaration of a Van Damme/Seagal truce), the MTV Movies Blog will go dark until Monday, December 29.
In the meantime, let us know below what movies you'll be checking out, either in theaters or at home next to a drunk uncle. Personally, I have a Yeti to catch.
What's certainly one of the most interesting films of the year has finally arrived. Comic book legend Frank Miller's adaptation of "The Spirit" (from the even more legendary Will Eisner) has faced a closely-watched ride to the box office. As soon as the first trailer premiered here on MTV.com, fans were already wondering whether the style Miller applied so perfectly to "Sin City" was the right move for a renowned superhero character from the 1940s.
Audiences (and Kurt Loder) will answer that question, but one thing's for sure: Miller's impressive cast stands behind the film. In our exclusive interview after the jump, stars Scarlett Johansson and Samuel L. Jackson talk shop about their villainous characters, and then move on to their musical aspirations and whether they'll be gracing the stage of Obama's inauguration (click here for all that). For those who grab a ticket, don't forget to return with your thoughts. Read more...
Comedy superstar Adam Sandler dips into more whimsical fare this week with the release of "Bedtime Stories," a considerably more family-friendly flick than his recent jaunt to Israel in "You Don't Mess With The Zohan." The film, opening tomorrow, features Sandler as a handyman whose bedside stories told to his niece and nephew suddenly become true.
The actor teams with "Hairspray" helmer Adam Shankman for "Bedtime Stories," which took Sandler in a new direction. "You know, it's interesting. I think he had to conform to me more than I had to conform to him," Shankman told MTV News. "This is Adam inside of a Disney movie. Although I've handled comedy, he hasn't done family."
After the jump, check out an exclusive clip from the film featuring Russell Brand as Sandler's best friend. And for more of our "Bedtime Stories" interview with Sandler and Shankman, along with a second exclusive clip, click here. Read more...
Rumors swirled all summer that Disney was no longer interested in continuing the Narnia franchise after "Prince Caspian" failed to ignite the box office. Disney denied such talk, but later confirmed they would end the series as a trilogy with "The Voyage of the Dawn Treader." But it looks like the rumor machine was right after all. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Disney has jumped ship on the third "Narnia" film, leaving Walden Media without a co-financier.
The third installment was already in the pre-production stages, with director Michael Apted taking over for Andrew Adamson, and the film's stars -- Ben Barnes, Georgie Henley, William Moseley and Anna Popplewell -- set to return for the third film. It was set to begin shooting in spring, with a planned release date of May 2010. Read more...
