The Malaysian Insider :: Showbiz
The Malaysian Insider :: Showbiz |
| ‘Ghost Recon’ in Michael Bay’s crosshairs Posted: 12 Jun 2013 10:50 PM PDT
The director of "Armageddon" and "Transformers" will be teaming up with Warner Bros. on this project. Bay, already attached as executive producer, might also direct this feature based on the video game, which was first released in 2001. "Ghost Recon", conceived by American novelist Tom Clancy, puts the gamer in charge of a fictional squad of US Army Special Forces. These elite soldiers have an arsenal of cutting-edge weapons with which to defuse armed conflicts and uprisings, while operating in total secrecy – hence their unofficial moniker "the Ghosts". "Ghost Recon" has already been adapted for a 24-minute short entitled "Ghost Recon Alpha" by Hervé de Crécy and François Alaux (click here to view). 'Assassin's Creed' and 'Splinter Cell' "Ghost Recon" is yet another effort by Ubisoft to capitalise cinematically on its most popular video games. The French-based global company is already working on a movie adaptation of its historical stealth video game "Assassin's Creed". Frank Marshall is producing this feature, which is slated for release in cinemas in May 2015. Michael Fassbender will play the hero in this epic saga about the apocalyptic battle between the modern-day scions of medieval Assassins and Knights Templar. "Splinter Cell", as with "Ghost Recon" a brainchild of Tom Clancy's, will likewise be emerging from consoles and PCs onto the silver screen. Tom Hardy is to play the lead, Sam Fisher, an NSA secret agent working solo as a specialist in infiltration. Ubisoft is not the only video game publisher ogling Hollywood. Electronic Arts recently joined forces with DreamWorks to adapt the auto-racing game "Need for Speed", and the movie is in the making. Square Enix recently released its reboot of "Tomb Raider" for production by MGM and GK Films. And not to forget Sony Pictures, which is now working on adapting "God of War" and "Shadow of the Colossus" for the silver screen. – AFP/Relaxnews |
| British music festivals in tune with older, cashed-up fans Posted: 12 Jun 2013 05:54 PM PDT
Music festivals have become an integral part of summer for British music fans, with Bon Jovi and Blondie at the Isle of Wight festival this weekend, Slipknot and Iron Maiden at metal-fest Download, and Iggy Pop at Yoko Ono's Meltdown in London. But figures show a shift in the type of fans attending music festivals, with research by website MSN this year finding the average festival-goer is aged 36 and expects to spend about £425 (RM2,080) on a ticket, transport and food to attend the event. This comes as ticket prices have surged, with the UK's biggest festival, Glastonbury, charging over £200 for the first time this year, 95 per cent up on the 2003 price of £105 – more than 2.5 times the rate of inflation. Catering for the older crowd are older acts, with musicians in the 10 top headline acts an average age of 39. British folk-rockers Mumford & Sons are the only top act this year to have released a debut album in the past five years. Research director James McCoy from market researcher YouGov said the costs had changed the crowd at big festivals, with a survey finding 22 per cent of festival-goers from last year planned to go on a holiday instead of paying for a festival. "People have less money to spend, and many of the festival-goers we surveyed were turned off by poor weather and long queues," said McCoy, joking about the annual photos of Glastonbury festival-goers in raincoats and covered in mud. "There is clearly some backlash to higher prices, and also to the commercialisation of festivals. This won't significantly impact the industry although we might see some smaller, more alternative festivals emerge on the side." Better facilities The changed demographic and increased competition for ticket sales has put pressure on festival organisers to provide for a more discerning guest who demands more than a burger in a field. Last year a list of music festivals were cancelled in Britain due to poor ticket sales and with adverse weather. Rob da Bank, founder of the four-day Bestival festival hosting Elton John, Fatboy Slim and Snoop Dog on the Isle of Wight off southern England in September, said tickets were taking longer to sell as people waited to check the weather before committing. "But overall the scene is healthy, with lots of different festivals on offer including more for families as 40-year-olds don't want to hang up their festival boots," he told Reuters. "However, running a festival in the 21st century has changed over the past 10 years and people expect far better service, from toilets cleaned twice a day, boutique camping options, and a wide variety of different foods on offer." Glastonbury retains the title as the UK's most popular music festival, attracting about 135,000 people who paid from £205 a ticket for the June 28-30 event, with tickets selling out in a record 1 hour and 40 minutes last October. The festival aims to cater for everyone on its various stages, with the Rolling Stones and the Arctic Monkeys on the main stage while hip house fans have Tyree Cooper, ravers get cult garage DJ Maurice Fulton, and children have their own show. Glastonbury also include the Grammy-nominated Gyuto Monks of Tibet, signed to Universal's Decca Records, who live in exile in Dharamsala, north India, with the Dalai Lama. The monks, who last performed in Britain 40 years ago at London's Royal Albert Hall, will perform their chants in a 60-acre space at Glastonbury called Green Fields, where festival-goers can "participate in new and old ways of living". Drawing the big names has become key for the major events. Beyonce is slated to perform at the V Festival in August while Scotland's biggest festival, T in the Park, in July has Rihanna, the Killers, and Snoop Dogg on its roster. "Every year we have to spend more on marketing to stay ahead as there are so many festivals out there," said da Bank. – Reuters |
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