by Matt Raub, Sep 21 2011 // 8:30 AM
Less than a week ago, we brought you a brand new trailer for an action-packed film out of Indonesia called The Raid about a SWAT group that has to make their way to the top of a crime-riddled apartment building. Apparently, we weren’t the only ones blown away by what the trailer had to offer, as Screen Gems is already vying to remake the film here in the states.
Since the film made so many waves at the Toronto International Film Festival, and it already had a distributor going into the fest, Screen Gems’ only reasonable plan was to remake the film for American audiences. Here’s what THR had to report.
Screen Gems is in negotiations on a remake, a move made possible for the label since sister arm Sony Pictures Worldwide Acquisitions picked up North American distribution rights to the film during the Cannes Film Festival. The initial deal called for Sony to have an exclusive negotiating period and right of refusal on a remake in its deal with XYZ Films, the makers of the original.
So it seems that the new recourse isn’t to acquire films so that a wider audience can be privy to the art, but to remake it with young up-and-comers that will likely bring a completely different (possibly terrible) take on the film before we, the frustrated audience members, get to even see the original.
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Posted in: Action · Drama · Foreign Films · Movies · News · Reboots and Remakes · Screen Gems
Tagged: cannes film festival, Indonesia, Old Boy, Remakes, Screen Gems, The Raid, TIFF, Tonronto International Film Festival
by Shannon Hood, Jan 7 2011 // 10:00 AM
File this one under guilty pleasure. This sudsy soap opera is set against the angst-ridden world of country music, and it jams every Lifetime Television cliché imaginable into a running time just shy of two hours. There’s a constant barrage of booze, drugs, depression, adultery, love, and loss. I’d be flat out lying if I said I didn’t enjoy it immensely.
If you are the type of person who can’t wrench yourself away from the Lifetime Movie Network (guilty as charged) you will eat this stuff up. I’m already fantasizing about when this movie will go into heavy rotation on cable.
I can’t really defend the movie as fine film making. It’s a mess of a story that jumps all over the place. Writer and director Shana Feste seemed to try to cram way too many storylines into the film, and it suffers as a consequence. It’s also not particularly original, if you have ever seen any movie about the country music industry.
However, what this film has got going for it is Gwyneth Paltrow, and a talented supporting cast. Gwyneth seems like a ridiculous choice to play a country western star. She’s an elitist blueblood actress who was born into a heavy-hitting Hollywood family (Blythe Danner is her mother, the late Bruce Paltrow was her father) and has alienated a lot of her fans with her self-righteous Goop website.
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Posted in: Drama · Movies · Musicals · Reviews · Screen Gems
Tagged: Country Strong, Garrett Hedlund, guilty pleasures, Gwyneth Paltrow, Leighton Meester, Shana Feste, Tim McGraw
by Sebastian Suchecki, May 11 2010 // 1:00 PM
Hitting stores everywhere today, Screen Gems’ Legion will be taking the Earth by storm in the form of DVD and Blu-Ray. Originally in theaters back in January, the action-thriller brought about the apocalypse with a cool “God purging the world of it’s disease” storyline, some cool zombie/demonic baddies, and an epic showdown between angels Michael (Paul Bettany) and Gabriel (LOST’s Kevin Durand).
Directed by visual effects artist Scott Stewart, the film fills out its cast with some great talent like Dennis Quaid, Private Practice’s Kate Walsh, Tyrese Gibson, Adrianne Palicki, and American Gothic’s Lucas Black. As part of the Blu-Ray release, we’ve got some great clips from the disc’s features to show you.
Dennis Quaid delves into the troubles of his character, Bob, Paul Bettany talks about doing (just about) all of his own stunts, and we see exactly how the production crew got the 60+ year old Jeannette Miller to hang from a ceiling.
Check out the clips after the jump, and pick up Legion on Blu-Ray or DVD today.
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Posted in: Action · Drama · DVD · Horror · Movies · News · Sci-Fi · Screen Gems · Thriller · Video
Tagged: Adrianne Palicki, American Gothic, Dennis Quaid, Jeannette Miller, Kate Walsh, Kevin Durand, Legion, Lucas Black, Paul Bettany, Scott Stewart, Screen Gems, Sony, Tyrese Gibson
by Chris Ullrich, Oct 9 2009 // 10:30 AM
If you were anxiously awaiting a movie featuring Kristen Bell and Christina Aguilera fighting it out to see who becomes queen of the neo-burlesque stage (undoubtedly while wearing skimpy outfits), then this is your lucky day. Why? Well, it seems Bell has signed to take a role in Screen Gems upcoming musical drama Burlesque, which features that exact scenario.
Just in case you’ve never hard of this movie or needed a minute because you were picturing Kristen Bell in lingerie, Burlesque tells the story of “an ambitious small-town girl (Aguilera) with a big-town voice who finds love and success in a Los Angeles neo-burlesque club, reminiscent of the nightclub in Bob Fosse’s Cabaret.”
Bell will play Nikki, the “loose-cannon lead dancer and main attraction” at the club who, to say the least, is not so pleased when Aguilera’s character suddenly gets the spotlight. Of course, an intense rivalry is formed which probably can only be resolved with song, dance and hopefully a good cat fight. Cher has already been cast as the nightclub owner in the film along with Stanley Tucci as the guy who helps turn Aguilera from bumpkin to bombshell — much like he did with Anne Hathaway in The Devil Wears Prada.
Shooting on Burlesque begins Nov. 9 for a Thanksgiving 2010 release.
Posted in: Casting · Comedy · Movies · Musicals · News · Romance · Screen Gems
Tagged: Burlesque, Christina Aguilera, Heroes, Kristen Bell, Veronica Mars