Movies

OMG! Netflix Is Making New Versions of Matilda, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and More Roald Dahl Classics. Hold onto your childhood because Netflix is about to rock it. The streaming service announced it's going to make new takes on Roald Dahl classics like Matilda, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and The BFG. "Our mission, which is purposefully lofty, is for as many children as possible around the world to experience the unique magic and positive message of Roald Dahl's stories," Felicity Dahl, Roald Dahl's widow, said in a statement. "This partnership with Netflix marks a significant move toward making that possible and is an incredibly exciting new chapter for the Roald Dahl Story Company. Roald would, I know, be thrilled." The classic tales will be made into animated event series by the streaming giant. Titles in development as part of the deal between Netflix and The Rolad Dahl Story Company include: Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Matilda, The BFG, The Twits, Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator, George's Marvellous Medicine, Boy � Tales of Childhood, Going Solo, The Enormous Crocodile, The Giraffe and the Pelly and Me, Henry Sugar, Billy and the Minpins, The Magic Finger, Esio Trot, Dirty Beasts, and Rhyme Stew. "Immersing ourselves in the extraordinary worlds of Roald Dahl stories has been an honor and a massive amount of fun, and we are grateful for the trust the Roald Dahl Story Company and the Dahl family have placed in our team to deliver more moments of shared joy to families around the world," Melissa Cobb, vice president of kids & family content at Netflix, said in a statement. "We have great creative ambition to reimagine the journeys of so many treasured Dahl characters in fresh, contemporary ways with the highest quality animation and production values." In a joint release, the two companies said, "Netflix intends to remain faithful to the quintessential spirit and tone of Dahl while also building out an imaginative story universe that expands far beyond the pages of the books themselves." Production on the first animated series is set to begin in 2019. "Netflix is known for innovative and high-quality storytelling," Gideon Simeloff, strategy director for The Roald Dahl Story Company, said in a statement. "There is no other place in the world that can deliver animated entertainment for the whole family at such quality and scale." (Eonline)

Alfonso Cuarn selected for Palm Springs Film Festival honor. The Palm Springs International Film Festival will present director Alfonso Cuarn with the Sonny Bono Visionary Award for his work on "Roma." The honor will be presented at the festival's awards gala on Jan. 3 at the Palm Springs Convention Center. The festival is in its 30th year and runs from Jan. 3 to Jan. 14. "Alfonso Cuarn's latest feature, 'Roma,' is a masterful achievement in filmmaking," said festival chairman Harold Matzner. "Drawing upon his childhood memories, Cuarn has created an emotionally driven story about a family growing up in 1970s Mexico City. A film he not only directed, but also was a writer, producer, cinematographer and editor. For his ability to take on many roles and for his expert storytelling of this subject matter, the festival is proud to present Alfonso Cuarn with the Sonny Bono Visionary Award." The award is named after the festival's founder and former Palm Springs mayor and is awarded to a filmmaker who breaks boundaries in the work. Roma" follows a live-in maid, played by Yalitza Aparicio, who works for a family in Mexico City's middleclass Roma neighborhood. Cuarn draws on his own childhood to portray domestic strife and social hierarchy amidst Mexico's political turmoil of the 1970s. Produced by Esperanto Filmoj and Participant Media, "Roma" will launch globally on Netflix as well as theatrically in December. Cuarn won Oscars for directing and editing the drama "Gravity." He made his feature film directorial debut with "Slo con Tu Pareja" and his American feature film debut with "A Little Princess." His other credits include "Great Expectations," "Y Tu Mam Tambien," "Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban," and "Children of Men." (PageSix)

Artemis Fowl trailer gives us a Judi Dench fairy tale. Kenneth Branagh has a tale to tell, one of fairies, a 12-year-old criminal mastermind, and Judi Dench. It's Artemis Fowl, and the young-adult novels from author Eoin Colfer come to life in the first trailer for Disney's feature film. Branagh, the actor-director behind Murder on the Orient Express, has been developing this big-screen adaptation for some time and now the fruits of his labor are ready to be plucked. The preview footage takes us to the seaside home of our protagonist, Artemis Fowl II, played by newcomer Ferdia Shaw. He's a descendant of a long line of criminals and he's on a mission: his father is missing and it has something to do with fairies. The boy is also determined to regain his family fortune, which he hopes to replace with some magical fairy gold. With the trailer, Disney takes us on a brief tour of the underground world of sprites, trolls, goblins, and, of course, LEPrecon, the fairy law enforcement "Reconnaissance" unit led by Commander Root. That's the voice we hear narrating the trailer, coming from a grumbling Dench. "Our world has never been in more danger," she says. "Human greed is what drove us underground all those years ago to escape from your rapacious appetite." Speaking directly to Artemis, she adds, "I warn you, boy, you are not prepared for the truth behiPartnered with his Butler (Game of Thrones' Nonzo Anozie), part of a long line of Fowl family butler-bodyguards, Artemis finds proof in fairies in a scene that comes direct from the first book: he confronts a fairy in the guise of an old woman in order to obtain her magical tome, said to be filled with secrets of the species. But the creature, shifting into her true form, won't just hand it over. Artemis Fowl also stars Lara McDonnell, Tamara Smart, and Josh Gad, featuring a screenplay by Irish playwright Conor McPherson. The film will open in theaters on Aug. 9, 2019. (Entertainment Weekly)

Kim Cattrall's Sex and the City 3 Storyline Involved Miranda's Teenage Son. The plot thickens as new details emerge about the canceled Sex and the City 3 movie. A source close to the project is revealing to E! News what led to the demise of the highly-anticipated third installment. According to the insider, it wasn't just Big's all-consuming death that discouraged Kim Cattrall from signing on for the third movie, but pay disparities and the script as a whole. "Kim never wanted to really do the movie to begin with," the source reveals. "It was a combination of not great money and a bad storyline for Samantha." "It was a bad script," the source puts it simply. What made the script so bad you may ask? Well, for starters, Samantha's "main storyline" revolved around her and Miranda's 14-year-old son Brady. Early in the film, Brady gets caught masturbating. He is also caught sending "dick pics" of his erect penis to Samantha. Awk! Just last week, Origins host James Andrew Miller revealed that the third movie would've seen the death of Big, Carrie Bradshaw's husband, ultimately making the film center around Sarah Jessica Parker's character. Miller said that this irked Cattrall since the movie would've been "more about how Carrie recovers from Big's death than about the relationship between the four women." Moreover, Kim feels that Sex and the City simply isn't relatable anymore. "I think the climate changed. To have four women talking about shopping trips and spending $400 on shoes when people are having trouble putting food on the table? It doesn't mean we don't need that but I think the pendulum swung in a different direction," she told the Scottish newspaper The Daily Record in 2016. And after all the drama that ensued over the course of the past two years, it appears it is too little too late for a reunion. Especially now that the plot for the third movie is out in the open. Nonetheless, SJP continues to insist there is "no catfight" between her and Cattrall. "I've not publicly ever said anything unfriendly, unappreciative about Kim, because that's not how I feel about her," Parker told the Origins host. (Eonline)

Jonathan Majors in Talks to Star in Aaron Sorkin's 'Trial of the Chicago 7'. The 'White Boy Rick' star is set to play Bobby Seale, the co-founder of the Black Panther Party. Jonathan Majors is in talks to star in writer-director Aaron Sorkin's The Trial of the Chicago 7, The Hollywood Reporter has confirmed. The film is based on the infamous 1969 trial of seven defendants charged by the federal government with conspiracy and more, arising from the countercultural protests in Chicago at the 1968 Democratic National Convention. Majors, who broke out on the ABC miniseries When We Rise, is in line to play Bobby Seale, co-founder of the Black Panther Party. Eddie Redmayne was earlier announced to be in talks to star in Chicago 7 in the role of Tom Hayden, co-founder of the Students for a Democratic Society. Sorkin will pen the screenplay and direct the Amblin Entertainment project, with Marc Platt set to produce. Majors also starred in this year's White Boy Rick, the Yann Demange-directed drama starring Matthew McConaughey, and Rupert Wyatt's upcoming Captive State. He is repped by CAA, Grandview Management and The Lede Company. (Hollywood Reporter)

Netflix Orders Spanish Thriller With Star of Foreign-Language Oscar Contender 'Champions'. 'Hogar,' or 'Home,' will also feature Mario Casas ('The Skin of the Wolf'). Netflix on Tuesday unveiled plans for a new feature film out of Spain. Thriller Hogar is shooting in Barcelona with lead actors Javier Gutierrez, star of Champions, Spain's foreign-language Oscar contender and top local grosser this year, and Mario Casas (The Skin of the Wolf). In Hogar, or Home, Gutierrez stars as an out-of-work advertising executive who begins stalking the young couple living in his family's former home. He slowly infiltrates their lives, intent on getting back what he's lost, no matter the cost. Alex and David Pastor (The Last Days) are directing, and Barcelona-based Nostromo Pictures is producing. The film has a supporting cast of familiar faces, including Bruna Cusi (Summer 1993), Ruth Diaz (The Skin of the Wolf) and David Ramirez (Narcos). Hogar is one of several Netflix feature films in production in Spain right now. Screwball comedy A Pesar De Todo, Netflix's first feature film with series producer Bambu Producciones, just finished shooting in Madrid with stars Marisa Paredes (All About My Mother), Blanca Suarez (Cable Girls), Amaia Salamanca (Love in Times of War), Macarena Garcia (Holy Camp) and Belen Cuesta (Paquita Salas) in a quirky tale of four sisters coping with their mother's death. Three other Netflix films are currently in post-production in Spain, including Isabel Coixet's black-and-white period film Elisa & Marcela, based on the true story of two women who must hide their love from a disapproving public in late 1800s Spain. The film is produced by Rodar y Rodar (The Orphanage) in association with Film Factory. A Quien Te Llevarias a Una Isla Desierta, a dramedy about four roommates facing the world of adult responsibilities, stars Elite and Money Heist duo Maria Pedraza and Jaime Llorente for director Jota Linares, who also wrote and directed the original theatrical production the film is based on. Beatriz Bodegas from La Canica Films produces. And Daniel Sanchez Arevalo (DarkBlueAlmostBlack) directs Seventeen for Jose Antonio Felez's Atipica Films. The story focuses on a teenager with social and communication difficulties who bonds with a therapy dog and then reels his brother into a quixotic odyssey when the dog gets adopted. Netflix also has a handful of series in the works in Spain while it continues construction of its Madrid production hub. These include Bambu Producciones' High Seas, a 1940s-era mystery set aboard a boat that is filming in Madrid; Hache, a 1960s-set drug trafficking drama now shooting in Barcelona for Weekend Studio; and season three of the hit series Money Heist, fresh off its International Emmy win, which is shooting outside Madrid. The company has also announced season four of Cable Girls and a season two for its popular new teen drama Elite. In July, Netflix signed an exclusive overall deal with Money Heist creator Alex Pina, founder of production company Vancouver Media. Pina has the Ibiza-set mystery series White Lines in development for Netflix with The Crown producer Left Bank Pictures, and the female-action drama Sky Rojo, set to start production in 2019. (Hollywood Reporter)

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

City Page Survey

Fall Book Discussion and Movie Series

Book discussion group to meet