The Malaysian Insider :: Showbiz
The Malaysian Insider :: Showbiz |
| ‘Despicable Me 2’ routs ‘Lone Ranger’ at box-office Posted: 09 Jul 2013 04:44 AM PDT
The comedy, starring villain-turned-doting-father Gru (voiced by Steve Carell) and his adorable little yellow minions, was the biggest attraction by far bringing in an impressive $83.5 million from Friday through Sunday, industry tracker Exhibitor Relations said. But for the long holiday weekend from its July 2 premiere to date, it already has earned $142 million, figures showed. The film, made in France by Universal, brought in more than double the 3-day weekend earnings of its closest rival, "The Lone Ranger." Another new release, the film starring Johnny Depp as the masked lawman's iconic sidekick Tonto debuted with $29.2 million from Friday, Exhibitor said. Its long weekend figure was $48.7 million. Third place went to buddy flick "The Heat" starring Sandra Bullock as a talented but haughty FBI agent and Melissa McCarthy as a rough-and-ready Boston cop, with $24.8 million. "Monsters University," a prequel to Pixar's 2001 hit "Monsters, Inc.," dropped to fourth place after two weeks in number one, with $19.7 million. The animated movie that tells how monster buddies Mike and Sulley became friends and honed their scaring skills has earned $216.3 million since it opened in the US three weeks ago. "World War Z," starring Brad Pitt as a former UN investigator trying to save the world from a zombie invasion, took in $18.4, good enough for fifth place. Next was Roland Emmerich's "White House Down," about a paramilitary group that tries to seize the White House. It garnered $13.5 million in its second week. "Man of Steel," the Superman reboot starring Henry Cavill, dropped to seventh place, with $11.4 million, and a total of $271 million over four weeks. Another newcomer, "Kevin Hart: Let Me Explain," featuring material from a Madison Square Garden performance by the stand-up comedian, opened with $10.1 million, for eighth place. "This is the End," about a group of friends invited to a party who become witnesses to the Apocalypse, was in ninth place with $5.9 million. Rounding out the top ten, "Now You See Me," about an FBI agent and an Interpol detective who hunt down a team of bank-robbing illusionists, earned $2.9 million. - AFP/Relax, July 9, 2013. |
| Film-maker Vikramaditya Motwane on O. Henry in Bollywood Posted: 08 Jul 2013 08:01 PM PDT Vikramaditya Motwane first caught the attention of Bollywood in 2010 when his debut film - a small-budget tale of teenage angst - made it to competition at the Cannes Film Festival in the category for emerging directors. Three years after the success of that movie, "Udaan" ("Flight"), Motwane is back with a big-ticket period romance inspired by "The Last Leaf", a short story by American writer O. Henry in which a leaf painted on a wall saves the life of a young, ill woman. "Lootera" ("Thief") opened in Indian cinemas last Friday, going head-to-head with "Policegiri", the last completed film by jailed Bollywood actor Sanjay Dutt. Motwane spoke about "Lootera" and the difficulties of adapting a four-page short story first published in 1907 into a full-fledged Bollywood movie. Q: What is "Lootera" about? Motwane: It is a love story, it's part thriller, mystery. At its core, it is a love story - it is about falling in love, about betrayal, redemption and a lot of things. It is also about friendship and life, and just a little bit more. Q: What about "The Last Leaf" made you want to adapt it? Motwane: Many things. The fact that it is tragic but leaves you with a smile on your face. The sense of doing something selfless for somebody who doesn't even know about it - that was really interesting. It was the human element that was magic. Q: How do you adapt a short story to an Indian setting? Motwane: The easy thing is that it is a four-page short story so you are not encumbered with details. Adapting a book is the most difficult thing because half the time you are wondering what to remove. Here, we had to add to it and work on a complete backstory. I tried to do a modern-day adaptation but it didn't work. You are talking of two people who come together and are then forced apart and in today's day and age with cellphones and Facebook, how far apart can you actually be? Q: Was it easier to make your second film after the success of "Udaan"? Motwane: I had written this script before "Udaan" was made and part of the angst of getting that first film made and finding that it wasn't getting done, worked itself into this. This was a big-budget film, which is difficult to make as a first film. And that wasn't a good time; it is much easier today. Doors opened quicker - getting access to the stars and the money has been easier. But it hasn't been an easy film to make. It is much bigger in terms of scale and production. But that was the intention. We set out to make a big film because I don't want to be stuck with being slotted as making films that are small. Because I have ideas that I know are going to take a lot of money to make. Not a lot of money, but some money. You have to give the industry confidence that you can handle that kind of money and budget. - Reuters, July 9, 2013. |
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