Movie News

Movie News

Bryce Dallas Howard Knows "Some Stuff" About the Jurassic World Sequel After Cornering Director Colin Trevorrow. Bryce Dallas Howard is nothing if not persistent. E! News' Zuri Hall caught up with the 34-year-old actress at the Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah, and asked her to share some details surrounding Universal Pictures' upcoming Jurassic World sequel, scheduled to arrive in theaters on June 22, 2018. Howard, who played the park's operations manager, Claire, in the 2015 blockbuster, said she's received some intel from screenwriters Colin Trevorrow and Derek Connolly. "I can't tell you anything, but here's what I'll say: Every single time I bump into Colin and Derek...I, like, corner them and harass them until they tell me something," she said. "They've told me some stuff and I'm so excited." Fans of the fourth film in the franchise mocked the heels Claire wore while running from the park's new hybrid dinosaur, Indominus Rex. Howard assured E! News that her character will be wearing more sensible footwear in the follow-up. "That was part of Jurassic World," she said of her wardrobe in the film. "They served their purpose." "Actually, to answer that question seriously, Claire is a different person now," she continued. "The person she is at the end of the movie is not the person she was in the beginning. Her armor of sorts was that white, pristine outfit with heels in a very corporate environment. The chick at the end is totally different. So, there better not be heels!" In addition to Howard, Chris Pratt and Ty Simpkins will also reprise their roles. Frank Marshall is producing, while Trevorrow and Steven Spielberg are acting as executive producers. Last July, Trevorrow told Wired U.K. that the film series "isn't always going to be limited to theme parks," and said the fifth installment will not have "a bunch of dinosaurs chasing people on an island. That'll get old real fast." Made for a reported $150 million, Jurassic World was the second-highest-grossing film of 2015 (earning $1.669 billion) and the highest-grossing film in the Jurassic Park franchise. (Eonline)

Robert Redford is pretty sure this is the best Sundance they've ever had, and he also knows that things have to change. It's not the films. The quality, he said, is better than ever. It's the size. "I'm starting to hear some negative comments about how crowded it is and how difficult it is to get from venue to venue when there's traffic and people in the streets and so forth," Redford said. "We're going to have to look at that." Redford still seems somewhat bemused that the Festival grew the way it did over the past three decades. He sees it as a combination of the narrowing of the entertainment business -- when filmmakers and actors had to look outside of Hollywood to find material and projects worth doing -- and a product of globalization. "When actors came who were well known, then the paparazzi came. Then once the paparazzi came, the fashion houses came. Suddenly this thing was going haywire," he said, laughing that the recession actually helped temper the frivolousness a bit. But people continue to turn out in droves, looking to be among the first to see a breakout filmmaker's debut -- like Ryan Coogler's "Fruitvale Station" or Damien Chazelle's "Whiplash." "As it grew, so did the crowds, so did the development in Park City. Well, at some point, if both those things continue to grow, they're going to begin to choke each other," Redford said. "So then I have to think about, oh, do we now risk being who we are in the first place? Do we risk (losing) the heart and soul of what we were when we started against the odds. ... Do we have to now rethink things?" Ideas are already swirling in Redford's brain about how the Festival can and should evolve. "You have a couple of choices. You can go hard and say we're going to stop it. Say 'that's the end.' Let it go. Let someone else do it," he said. "Or, you say well, if you want to keep it going, we can't keep it going the way things are." One thought Redford had was to break up the festival into sections, instead of cramming narrative, documentaries, shorts and everything else into a tight 10 days in January. So, in this scenario, narrative features could play in January, and February would be for documentaries. "I don't know whether that works or not," Redford acknowledged. "That's just an idea that's worming in my head." The Sundance Film Festival wraps on Sunday. (Page Six)

The film comes from red-hot New Zealand helmer Taika Waititi, who will direct the next 'Thor' movie for Marvel. The Orchard has acquired North American rights to Taika Waititi's comedy Hunt for the Wilderpeople. The deal, pegged at nearly $2 million, includes a traditional theatrical release. Based on Barry Crump's novel Wild Pork and Watercress, the story follows a national manhunt that is ordered when a rebellious kid and his foster uncle go missing in the wild New Zealand bush. Hunt for the Wilderpeople stars Julian Dennison, Sam Neill, Rachel House, Rima Te Waita and Oscar Knightley. Waititi, who directed and starred in 2015's What We Do in the Shadows, also wrote the film's screenplay. The director's stock is on the rise ever since he landed the helming assignment for Marvel's next Thor movie. The film marks the second collaboration between Waititi and The Orchard, which released WhatWe Do in the Shadows. Hunt for the Wilderpeople was produced by Carthew Neal, Matt Noonan and Leanne Saunders. Charlie McClellan and James Wallace executive produced. The Orchard acquired the film after its Jan. 22 premiere at the Sundance Film Festival. "This film captures so much of what we love about Taika -- it's wildly funny, endearing, smart and deserves as big an audience as possible," said Paul Davidson, The Orchard's senior VP of film and television. "We pursued this film for all of those reasons but also because we genuinely love being in business with Taika." Added Waititi: "We developed a really strong relationship with The Orchard on What We Do in the Shadows. They did such a great job on that release that I'm really pleased to be partnering with them again on Wilder people. I'm excited the film will be getting a theatrical release in North America. It was the main thing we wanted coming into Sundance, so we're all going home happy." Protagonist Pictures is handling international sales for the film, with CAA co-repping in North America. CAA negotiated the deal on behalf of the filmmakers and Craig Sussman on behalf of The Orchard. (Hollywood Reporter)

The double Oscar winner will get an honorary Cesar award at this year's ceremony. Two-time Oscar winner Michael Douglas will now add a Cesar to his golden statue collection. The actor will receive an honorary Cesar-France's version of the Oscar-award at the French Academy's annual ceremony in February. "He manages to embody an impressive variety of characters," said French academy president Alain Terzian, citing performances in such varied films as The Game, Traffic and Basic Instinct. The star won a best actor Oscar for Wall Street and a best picture Oscar for One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, on which he was a producer. Douglas also has won a slew of Golden Globes and Emmys for his work throughout the years. Calling his legacy "straight out of Hollywood magic," the academy cited Douglas' position as Hollywood royalty in addition to his acting and producing work. "His unique background in American cinema makes him an absolute star, and he has become a legend in his lifetime." Douglas follows other past honorary recipients of the Cesar, including Sean Penn and Kate Winslet. Films in contention for Cesars this year include Cannes Palme d'Or winner Dheepan and the foreign-language Oscar-nominated Mustang. The Cesars ceremony will be held Feb. 26 at Paris' Chatelet Theatre, two days before the Oscars. (Hollywood Reporter)

The streaming services are striking early and often for the fest's most sought-after films as Netflix helped bid up the record-setting price of 'Birth of a Nation' in an overnight auction. For more than three decades, filmmakers have arrived at the Sundance Film Festival with dreams of landing a seven- or eight-figure deal with a strong theatrical distributor that can turn a passion project into mainstream entertainment. Those whose movies don't go over as well settle for a direct-to-DVD, VOD or, more recently, streaming service pact. But Sundance 2016 is turning that hierarchy upside down, with Amazon and Netflix striking early and often for the fest's most sought-after films -- shelling out big bucks and infuriating traditional buyers in the process. As of Jan. 25, the four major agencies each could boast at least one megadeal with Amazon, led at the festival by Roy Price, or with Netflix and Ted Sarandos. WME landed the a mammoth one when it sold all domestic rights to Kenneth Lonergan's Casey Affleck starrer Manchester by the Sea to Amazon for $10 million. Amazon will bring on a theat-rical distribution partner for an awards-season run. Likewise, CAA and UTA teamed to sell worldwide SVOD rights to Paul Rudd vehicle The Fundamentals of Caring to Netflix for nearly $7 million. And ICM negotiated a $5 million streaming deal with Netflix for the Ellen Page drama Tallulah. Those prices would have turned heads in previous years had The Weinstein Co. or Fox Searchlight paid them, considering that just two years ago, the top price paid for a film was $3.5 million for The Skeleton Twins. Though the Manchester deal was later eclipsed by the Searchlight Birth of a Nation pact, Netflix influenced the latter film's $17.5 million price tag. Sources say Netflix offered $20 million for the slave-revolt drama, ultimately driving up Birth's record-breaking number. "It's always transformative when you add smart, elegant and well-capitalized companies that disrupt the status quo," says WME Global chief Graham Taylor. "As a consumer, I want to be able to consume art and media in myriad ways that require a bespoke solution." Amazon also nabbed the Michael Shannon drama Complete Unknown (CAA/WME) prefest and the doc Author: The JT LeRoy Story (WME) while in Park City (far outbidding its closest rival, The Orchard). The company also struck a seven-figure deal with Megan Ellison's Annapurna Pictures for Todd Solondz's Wiener-Dog (CAA). "The streaming services have shown they can bring tremendous resources to support a film," says UTA's Rena Ronson. "It's early days with these deals, but it's important to have new, innovative buyers in the market." By contrast, the traditional Sundance players had made a much smaller splash by the festival's midpoint (though breakout The Birth of a Nation had bids from majors at press time). Lionsgate/Summit picked up James Schamus' directorial debut, Indignation, for $2.5 million, and Sony Pictures Classics took the Wall Street- set Equity for $3.5 million. A24 scooped up the coming-of-age story Morris From America for just more than $1 million. While sellers were celebrating the presence of Netflix and Amazon, traditional buyers were seething, suggesting the streaming behemoths are overpaying. "You've got Amazon, and how many billions does that guy have?" says SPC's Tom Bernard, referring to Amazon founder Jeff Bezos. "If he loses $12 million on a movie, it's not going to hurt him -- and the amount of publicity he'll drum up from buying it will make a difference." But sales agents contend the prices paid by streamers do add up. Says CAA's Micah Green, "Digital platforms are valuing films not only for their trans -- actional value but also for their prestige value and potential to attract and retain subscribers." (Hollywood Reporter)