Movies
Calling All Hopeless Romantics! Sleepless in Seattle Is Heading Back to Theaters. Get your tissues ready, because Sleepless in Seattle is returning to theaters! In honor of the classic romantic comedy's 25th anniversary, Fathom Events and Sony Pictures Entertainment are going to host screenings of the film in over 400 theaters across the country. For two nostalgia-filled night's, fans can once again experience watching the Tom Hanks film in theaters while munching on movie theater popcorn and licorice. In the movie, Hanks plays a recently widowed father who shares his grief with a radio show host, after some encouragement from his young son. And, as luck would have it, Annie, played by Meg Ryan, is overcome with emotion after hearing his story. From there, the rest is history. When the iconic film was first released in 1993, it earned over $17 million in the box office on it's first weekend alone. Since then, it has continued to draw hopeless romantics from across the globe. Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan were so loved by the audience in fact that they reunited just years later to make another hit romance film, You've Got Mail. And there's more to look forward to, with a brand-new introduction by Meg Ryan and producer Gary Foster being included at the screening. "We couldn't let 2018 come to an end without honoring one of the truly great romantic comedies as it celebrates its 25th anniversary -- and we're doubly excited to have the help of Meg Ryan and Gary Foster, whose talents were so critical to making this film a success," said Tom Lucas, Fathom Events VP of Studio Relations. Tickets are available now at www.FathomEvents.com or at participating theater box offices. (Eonline)
'Hunter Killer' Gets License for Russia Release. The thriller starring Gerard Butler and Gary Oldman is due to premiere in Moscow Thursday after week's delay. Hunter Killer, a Hollywood thriller, in which U.S. troops rescue an embattled Russian president, has been given an exhibition license in Russia after it was mysteriously pulled from theaters in the country last week. Hunter Killer, starring Gerard Butler as a U.S. Navy submarine captain who tries to prevent World War III after the Russian president is taken hostage by his defense minister during a Kremlin coup, will be released Thursday, a week after it was originally due to have its Russian premiere. Russia's culture minister Vladimir Medinsky confirmed the film would be granted a license but criticized the movie. "This is a banal, boring and ultimately stupid film," Russian media quoted Medinsky saying. "If someone goes to see it, they will only have my sympathy for two wasted hours." Megogo Distribution, the film's distributor, confirmed that it had received a license. The film is due to open Thursday night on 70 screens in Moscow and more locations across Russia, though the nationwide figure is not available. The film, which also stars Gary Oldman, was pulled hours before its planned Russian premiere last week when the ministry of culture told the distributor that it had failed to show it had transferred a copy of the film "for permanent storage at the Russian state film fund." Others, including opposition politicians and social media commentators, suggested officials were seeking to block the movie for depicting a fictional scenario, in which the Kremlin chief is deposed. Popular independent online magazine Snob.ru wrote: "There must be fears that the movie could push viewers to the thought that the president could, in principle, be ousted, and the sky won't fall." Russian authorities have a track record of preventing the release of films deemed offensive. Earlier this year, the release of Armando Iannucci's satire The Death of Stalin, was stopped for allegedly poking fun at the Soviet past. Hunter Killer has also faced problems in neighboring Ukraine, which has had sour relations with Russia since Moscow annexed Crimea in 2014. Due for a release there on Oct. 25, it also failed to get a distribution license under a local law banning films depicting "the military power of Russia." (Hollywood Reporter)
German TV Giant ProSiebenSat.1 to Renegotiate Hollywood Output Deals. ProSieben is shifting its focus away from U.S. series in favor of local productions as third-quarter results show a fall in profit and revenue. German television group ProSiebenSat.1 is asking Hollywood to cut it some slack. The broadcast giant, which currently has volume or output deals with four Hollywood studios, is looking to renegotiate terms as profits and revenue slump in its core German free-TV business. ProSiebenSat.1's results, reported this week, showed that net profit for the first nine months of 2018 was down 8 percent and revenue off 3 percent compared to the same period last year. The group, which operates several free and pay-TV channels in Germany, says it now expects full-year revenue to drop in the "low-single-digit percentage range" to around $4.58 billion (4 billion). ProSiebenSat.1 CEO Max Conze said the company was now reviewing its existing U.S. studio contracts to see if they can be renegotiated. "ProSiebenSat.1 has approached the respective licensors in order to achieve relevant improvements in the scope of rights and/or volume inflow for license volumes both from existing agreements and for future agreements," Conze said. ProSiebenSat.1 has successfully closed a new licensing deal with Warner Bros. and is looking to do the same with its other Hollywood partners. The German group also has licensing deals in place with CBS, Disney and Fox, which require ProSiebenSat.1 to take a certain number of films and TV series from the U.S. studios. The German group is one of the biggest buyers of U.S. series worldwide and, for years, a steady source of licensing revenue for its studio partners. ProSiebenSat.1's German channels are packed with U.S. series, such as Warner Bros.-produced The Big Bang Theory and The Flash and CBS's NCIS franchise. But American series are not the ratings guarantor they once were, as viewers desert to streaming services, such as Netflix and Amazon Prime. German audiences, following a pattern seen across Europe, are also shifting to more local series and shows. Red Arrow, ProSiebenSat.1's content arm, said it will be plowing money into the development and production of local shows and hopes to increase the company's share of local content commissions from 13 percent today to more than 30 percent over the next five years. (Hollywood Reporter)
'A Star Is Born' Rating Changed by New Zealand's Censor After Complaints. Bradley Cooper's film had a specific warning added after complaints from healthcare organizations in the country. [This story contains a major spoiler from A Star Is Born] A Star Is Born has had its rating reclassified in New Zealand after complaints from the public and health care providers that a suicide in the film had triggered two vulnerable young people, during its first week of release. The film was originally automictically classified with an M rating -- which is advisory not restrictive and usually carries the descriptor "Recommended for mature audiences" -- after receiving the same classification in Australia and carried a descriptive note "Sex scenes, offensive language and drug use." Following the complaints, New Zealand's chief censor required that the warning note be updated to include "suicide." The film is now rated M, with a classification that reads: "Sex scenes, offensive language, drug use and suicide." In a statement NZ's Office of Film and Literature Classification said the first complaint involved Police Victim Support advising that they responded to two vulnerable young people who had been severely triggered by the scene. "The Mental Health Foundation also informed us of a number of complaints," the statement added. The method of suicide used in A Star Is Born is the most common method of suicide in New Zealand. Chief Censor David Shanks said that although A Star Is Born handles the topic relatively sensitively, the OFLC felt it was in the best interest of the NZ public to add a warning, particularly considering NZ's appalling suicide rate. "Many people in New Zealand have been impacted by suicide. For those who have lost someone close to them, a warning gives them a chance to make an informed choice about watching," Shaks said. "We avoid unnecessary 'spoilers', but properly informing the viewing public is our primary concern," he added. Warner Bros. and Roadshow Films jointly distribute A Star Is Born in Australia and NZ where it opened on Oct. 18. (Hollywood Reporter)
Netflix Grants Exclusive Theatrical Release To Andy Serkis' 'Mowgli'. The newest retelling of the Rudyard Kipling tale will appear in limited engagements Nov. 29 before it hits the streaming service Dec. 7. Director Andy Serkis' Mowgli: Legend of the Jungle, a new retelling of Rudyard Kipling's The Jungle Book, is the latest Netflix offering to get a limited theatrical release before it appears on the streaming service. Netflix announced that the film will have exclusive theatrical engagements beginning Nov. 29 in Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco and London before being released globally by Netflix on Dec. 7. It then will have an expanded theatrical release in additional theaters in the U.S. and the U.K. In Mowgli, Serkis, a pioneer in the art of performance capture, having played Gollum in The Lord of the Rings movies and Caesar in The Planet of the Apes movies, directs such A-list actors as Christian Bale, Cate Blanchett, Benedict Cumberbatch, Freida Pinto, Matthew Rhys and Naomie Harris, all playing jungle denizens, in the new version of Kipling's tale, with Rohan Chand playing the human boy who finds himself in their in their midst. The film was originally produced by Warner Bros., which saw Disney's Jungle Book, directed by Jon Favreau, beat it to the screen in April 2016. Warners, which had originally planned to release Serkis' movie in October 2016, moved its release to October 2017 and then to Oct. 19 of this year before selling the film to Netflix, which announced its acquisition this past summer, slating the movie for a 2019 online debut. Netflix, which had been operating under a strict day-and-date policy, with those films it gave a limited theatrical release appearing in theaters on the same day they hit the streaming service, recently began to make exceptions to that policy, announcing that it would give exclusive releases in advance of a movie's online debut to several upcoming awards hopefuls -- Alfonso Cuaron's Roma, the Coen brothers' The Ballad of Buster Scruggs and Susanne Bier's Bird Box. (Hollywood Reporter)
'Hunter Killer' Gets License for Russia Release. The thriller starring Gerard Butler and Gary Oldman is due to premiere in Moscow Thursday after week's delay. Hunter Killer, a Hollywood thriller, in which U.S. troops rescue an embattled Russian president, has been given an exhibition license in Russia after it was mysteriously pulled from theaters in the country last week. Hunter Killer, starring Gerard Butler as a U.S. Navy submarine captain who tries to prevent World War III after the Russian president is taken hostage by his defense minister during a Kremlin coup, will be released Thursday, a week after it was originally due to have its Russian premiere. Russia's culture minister Vladimir Medinsky confirmed the film would be granted a license but criticized the movie. "This is a banal, boring and ultimately stupid film," Russian media quoted Medinsky saying. "If someone goes to see it, they will only have my sympathy for two wasted hours." Megogo Distribution, the film's distributor, confirmed that it had received a license. The film is due to open Thursday night on 70 screens in Moscow and more locations across Russia, though the nationwide figure is not available. The film, which also stars Gary Oldman, was pulled hours before its planned Russian premiere last week when the ministry of culture told the distributor that it had failed to show it had transferred a copy of the film "for permanent storage at the Russian state film fund." Others, including opposition politicians and social media commentators, suggested officials were seeking to block the movie for depicting a fictional scenario, in which the Kremlin chief is deposed. Popular independent online magazine Snob.ru wrote: "There must be fears that the movie could push viewers to the thought that the president could, in principle, be ousted, and the sky won't fall." Russian authorities have a track record of preventing the release of films deemed offensive. Earlier this year, the release of Armando Iannucci's satire The Death of Stalin, was stopped for allegedly poking fun at the Soviet past. Hunter Killer has also faced problems in neighboring Ukraine, which has had sour relations with Russia since Moscow annexed Crimea in 2014. Due for a release there on Oct. 25, it also failed to get a distribution license under a local law banning films depicting "the military power of Russia." (Hollywood Reporter)
German TV Giant ProSiebenSat.1 to Renegotiate Hollywood Output Deals. ProSieben is shifting its focus away from U.S. series in favor of local productions as third-quarter results show a fall in profit and revenue. German television group ProSiebenSat.1 is asking Hollywood to cut it some slack. The broadcast giant, which currently has volume or output deals with four Hollywood studios, is looking to renegotiate terms as profits and revenue slump in its core German free-TV business. ProSiebenSat.1's results, reported this week, showed that net profit for the first nine months of 2018 was down 8 percent and revenue off 3 percent compared to the same period last year. The group, which operates several free and pay-TV channels in Germany, says it now expects full-year revenue to drop in the "low-single-digit percentage range" to around $4.58 billion (4 billion). ProSiebenSat.1 CEO Max Conze said the company was now reviewing its existing U.S. studio contracts to see if they can be renegotiated. "ProSiebenSat.1 has approached the respective licensors in order to achieve relevant improvements in the scope of rights and/or volume inflow for license volumes both from existing agreements and for future agreements," Conze said. ProSiebenSat.1 has successfully closed a new licensing deal with Warner Bros. and is looking to do the same with its other Hollywood partners. The German group also has licensing deals in place with CBS, Disney and Fox, which require ProSiebenSat.1 to take a certain number of films and TV series from the U.S. studios. The German group is one of the biggest buyers of U.S. series worldwide and, for years, a steady source of licensing revenue for its studio partners. ProSiebenSat.1's German channels are packed with U.S. series, such as Warner Bros.-produced The Big Bang Theory and The Flash and CBS's NCIS franchise. But American series are not the ratings guarantor they once were, as viewers desert to streaming services, such as Netflix and Amazon Prime. German audiences, following a pattern seen across Europe, are also shifting to more local series and shows. Red Arrow, ProSiebenSat.1's content arm, said it will be plowing money into the development and production of local shows and hopes to increase the company's share of local content commissions from 13 percent today to more than 30 percent over the next five years. (Hollywood Reporter)
'A Star Is Born' Rating Changed by New Zealand's Censor After Complaints. Bradley Cooper's film had a specific warning added after complaints from healthcare organizations in the country. [This story contains a major spoiler from A Star Is Born] A Star Is Born has had its rating reclassified in New Zealand after complaints from the public and health care providers that a suicide in the film had triggered two vulnerable young people, during its first week of release. The film was originally automictically classified with an M rating -- which is advisory not restrictive and usually carries the descriptor "Recommended for mature audiences" -- after receiving the same classification in Australia and carried a descriptive note "Sex scenes, offensive language and drug use." Following the complaints, New Zealand's chief censor required that the warning note be updated to include "suicide." The film is now rated M, with a classification that reads: "Sex scenes, offensive language, drug use and suicide." In a statement NZ's Office of Film and Literature Classification said the first complaint involved Police Victim Support advising that they responded to two vulnerable young people who had been severely triggered by the scene. "The Mental Health Foundation also informed us of a number of complaints," the statement added. The method of suicide used in A Star Is Born is the most common method of suicide in New Zealand. Chief Censor David Shanks said that although A Star Is Born handles the topic relatively sensitively, the OFLC felt it was in the best interest of the NZ public to add a warning, particularly considering NZ's appalling suicide rate. "Many people in New Zealand have been impacted by suicide. For those who have lost someone close to them, a warning gives them a chance to make an informed choice about watching," Shaks said. "We avoid unnecessary 'spoilers', but properly informing the viewing public is our primary concern," he added. Warner Bros. and Roadshow Films jointly distribute A Star Is Born in Australia and NZ where it opened on Oct. 18. (Hollywood Reporter)
Netflix Grants Exclusive Theatrical Release To Andy Serkis' 'Mowgli'. The newest retelling of the Rudyard Kipling tale will appear in limited engagements Nov. 29 before it hits the streaming service Dec. 7. Director Andy Serkis' Mowgli: Legend of the Jungle, a new retelling of Rudyard Kipling's The Jungle Book, is the latest Netflix offering to get a limited theatrical release before it appears on the streaming service. Netflix announced that the film will have exclusive theatrical engagements beginning Nov. 29 in Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco and London before being released globally by Netflix on Dec. 7. It then will have an expanded theatrical release in additional theaters in the U.S. and the U.K. In Mowgli, Serkis, a pioneer in the art of performance capture, having played Gollum in The Lord of the Rings movies and Caesar in The Planet of the Apes movies, directs such A-list actors as Christian Bale, Cate Blanchett, Benedict Cumberbatch, Freida Pinto, Matthew Rhys and Naomie Harris, all playing jungle denizens, in the new version of Kipling's tale, with Rohan Chand playing the human boy who finds himself in their in their midst. The film was originally produced by Warner Bros., which saw Disney's Jungle Book, directed by Jon Favreau, beat it to the screen in April 2016. Warners, which had originally planned to release Serkis' movie in October 2016, moved its release to October 2017 and then to Oct. 19 of this year before selling the film to Netflix, which announced its acquisition this past summer, slating the movie for a 2019 online debut. Netflix, which had been operating under a strict day-and-date policy, with those films it gave a limited theatrical release appearing in theaters on the same day they hit the streaming service, recently began to make exceptions to that policy, announcing that it would give exclusive releases in advance of a movie's online debut to several upcoming awards hopefuls -- Alfonso Cuaron's Roma, the Coen brothers' The Ballad of Buster Scruggs and Susanne Bier's Bird Box. (Hollywood Reporter)
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