Tonight I had the very good fortune to be invited to a private event with Mr. "Lord of the Rings" himself, Peter Jackson. It was the latest in a series of cool happenings that also had me catching an early screening of "District 9" -- the upcoming Jackson-produced sci-fi flick that already feels destined to change the face of genre filmmaking.
"It cost thirty million dollars," Jackson said to audible gasps in a function room at a Comic-Con hotel. Not that you could tell watching the movie, which boasts intense effects shots that make “Transformers” look like "My Dinner With Andre." "In raising the money, I had to sign off on everything, final cut, etc... but it was Neill's film." Read More...
Contributed by Silas Lesnick
- Warner Brothers loses Indian “Hari Puttar” copyright case. (
- Steven Spielberg's "Tintin" coming first, says Andy Serkis. Peter Jackson seen stewing. (
Two of the most powerful forces in Hollywood are coming together to produce and direct a trilogy of films based on the Belgian comic book strip, "Tintin" (read more 
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Does 2011's Film Slate Show That Hollywood Has Learned From 2010's Flops & Successes?
Posted 1/4/11 11:18 am EST by Terri Schwartz in Commentary
Original voices maybe, but original film stories not so much. Despite the fact that some of this year's most-loved films were new ideas ("Black Swan," "Despicable Me" and "Inception"), the biggest moneymakers followed the too-familiar trend of sequels, reboots and remakes ("Toy Story 3," "Iron Man 2" and "Alice in Wonderland"). And while studio execs might be professing that change is in the air for 2011, looking at a list of next year's films shows a whole lot of the same.
Here's a breakdown: Of the 93 films hitting theaters next year, 29 are original; 28 are either adaptations or based on true events (but not twisted into thrillers like "Apollo 18" and "The Rite"); 34 are either reboots, remakes or sequels; and two are documentaries (hi there, "African Cats" and "Justin Bieber: Never Say Never"). After the jump we'll take a look at them and see if studios really have learned lessons from 2010's biggest flops. Read More...
Tags alice in wonderland, arthur, battle los angeles, black swan, breaking dawn, captain america, cowboys and aliens, Despicable Me, Fast Five, green hornet, green lantern, Hall Pass, hanna, harry potter and the deathly hallows, how to train your dragon, inception, iron man 2, no strings attached, Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, priest, rango, Rio, Rise of the Apes, Scream 4, Source Code, sucker punch, Super 8, the dilemma, The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, The Muppets, The Sitter, The Smurfs, the thing, the tourist, thor, tintin, toy story 3, your highness, Zookeeper