THE WEEKEND GAZETTE # 6

MOVIES RELEASED
Sex and fantasy

1-DARK
Thriller erotic
Directed and Produced by Michael Mann
Starring Denzel Washington, Halle Berry, Clive Owen, Thandie Newton
Box Office: 110 mill.
Net Gains: 71 mill.

2-ALICE IN WONDERLAND
Adventure
Directed by Mike Newell
Produced by Steven Spielberg
Starring Dakota Fanning, Jude Law, Queen Latifah. Voices of Dustin Hoffman, Bill Murray, Glenn Close.
Box Office: 171 mill.
Net Gains: 138 mill.

THE MOVING THUMBS

1-Dark

“Maybe the title is a reference to the movie’s plot. It is so dark that some times it is so difficult to understand why the characters do what they do. Mann is so interested in showing us how sexy Halle Berry can be and how mysterious the plot’s scenarios are that he forgets the story he’s telling us.”
-Robin Carson, ‘Hollywood Reporter’

“Although some elements of the story are not developed enough, Mann has created an oppressive but seductive atmosphere. At the end, I had the feeling that the movie had stayed a couple of steps before becoming a very good picture.”
-Amy Ratched, ‘Today’

“The formula: Heat x Basic Instinct”
-Billy Conn, ‘Variety’

2-Alice In Wonderland

“A beautiful show. I don’t know how much comes from Newell and how much comes from Spielberg, but both together have created a great movie, visually outstanding, enjoyable for all audiences and full of magic and intelligence”
-Bob Felton, ‘Entertainment Weekly’

“For the first time, Carroll’s book has not been treated as a silly children story. Newell has made an adult approach to the story without renouncing to the fairy tale elements. Jude Law makes a brilliant Madd Hatter and I won’t be able from now on to imagine the Queen of Hearts without Lattifa’s face. The voices of Hoffman (White Rabitt), Murray (Chesire Cat) and Close (the Duchess) fit perfectly with their characters.
-Jack Harrison, ‘People’

AWAITING RELEASE
Scary teens, brave women

1-The Women Club

The Cast: Sandra Bullock, Reese Witherspoon, Queen Latifah, Steve Martin, Pierce Brossnan
The Director: Mimi Leder
The Producer: Sandra Bullock
The Plot: Three housewives discover it is their destiny to wreck havoc on cheating hearts and spoiled brats. The eccentric Sally (Gyllenhaal), the innocent and sweet June (Witherspoon) and the frustrated Anne (Bullock) join forces and create The Women Club, a secret agency where women can hire them to act against their cheating husbands and their spoilt teen kids in all kind of funny ways. Steve Martin is the boss of the trio and Pierce Brossnan plays an attractive bachelor that first will be the man of their dreams for the three women and soon will become the main target of their avenge.
The Comment: A parody that mixes ‘Charlie’s Angels’ and ‘Desperate Housewives’. A crazy comedy oriented to female audiences.

2-VORHEES: THE EARLY YEARS

The Cast: Jamie Lee Curtis, Amanda Bynes, William H. Macy
The Director: Matt Kubrick
The Plot: A young Jason Vorhees grows up in the 60’s as a mentally handicapped mute. His mean mother (Curtis) rejects him. Jason grows up permanently covering his head with a hood, unable to talk or communicate with anybody and suffering the hate of his own mother. Despite a friendship with a female camp counsellor (Bynes), his bitterness and hatred soon turns into a murderous rampage. Macy, the camp owner, will be the first victim of his fury.
The Coment: A reimagining of Jason for a whole new generation. A dark brodding drama/horror slasher. CMP makes a risky move trying to reinvigorate a character so many times seen on screen.

MOVIES IN DEVELOPMENT V. 28

SINGLES: Kirsten Dunst and Vince Vaughn have joined Matthew Perry, Sarah Jessica Parker and Patrick Dempsey in this comedy about a group of friends looking for true love. James L. Brooks directs and produces.

THE HEIRS – PART 2: Second chapter of this action drama ready to be released. Test screens have shown very promising results for this Scorsese’s epic mob story.

MOVIES IN DEVELOPMENT V. 38

INDIGO PROPHECY: Matt Damon will play the leading role of this thriller with supernatural elements. Brian Kelley, screenwriter of ‘Deadly Sins’ has it all ready to begin the shootage. Jamie Foxx, Kate Beckinsale, Mark Ruffalo and Brittany Murphy complete the cast.

PRIEST: Eric Bana is said to star this movie. But production schedule of this project is suffering too many delays, although CMP has not confirmed the reasons.

DEEP SILENCE: James Cameron will direct and produce this movie. A tough work, as many of the scenes take place underwater. It is confirmed that Jessica Alba (‘T.Y.M.’), star of Cameron’s tv series ‘Dark Angel’, will be part of the cast.

DEAD MAN’S SONG: After the success of ‘Bill and the Rocket Man’, CMP has immediately greenlighted this George Clooney’s project. A crime story located in Chicago during the roaring 20’s. Clooney will star, direct and produce the movie.

RUMOURS AND GOSSIPS
Duels to first blood

So we have a winner. Peter Weir has been chosen to direct ‘Cathedral’. And his first decision has been casting Russell Crowe for the leading role. Both had worked previously together in ‘Master and Commander’. Although Harry Stark preferred Johnny Depp to star the movie, as he wasn’t very happy with Crowe after he abandoned ‘The Crusades’, CMP’s President has decided to respect Weir’s decision. The movie will get the green light soon.

Everything is being kept so secret around the new Star Wars trilogy being produced by CMP. Only two things have been said by the moment. First is that the story will take place many years before Lucas’ movies. Second is that a very active CMP’s screenwriter is working hard to present a final draft of the screenplay.

‘Priest’ is becoming an uncomfortable project for Harry Stark. Director John Woo seems to be unable to put up together a cast for the movie. Stark wanted Nicholas Cage to star, but once again it seems like he will respect the director decision and it will be Eric Bana who will take the role of an avenger and violent priest looking for justice in a futuristic world.

Another peculiar duel. Good old friends Ben Affleck and Matt Damon have fought to star ‘Indigo Prophecy’. Finally, Matt Damon took the main role. Director Brian Kelley offered Affleck another role then, but he rejected it. It seems like he didn’t like the idea of playing a secondary character after losing the chance to lead the cast.

INSIDE CMP
Studio coming on age

More news about the Golden Moon Awards. Finally, there will be 13 categories to vote for. Each one of them will have 3 nominees. As soon as 25 movies are released by CMP, categories will be announced at Hollywood Mogul’s message board. There will be a deadline for everyone to vote for the nominations in every category. After that, nominees will be announced and everybody will have another deadline to vote for the winners. After that, CMP will host a gala where the envelopes with the winners’ names will be open.

Probably, CMP will produce and release its movies in level 3 when moving into Hollywood Mogul v.38. After so many tests, this one seems to be the better option. But CMP’s Executive Board is conscious that this will mean a substantial decrease of the Studios’ incomes.

CMP’S WORLWIDE GROSS TOP 5

1. The Mogulers - 233
2. T.Y.M. - 199
3. The Crusades - 199
4. Captain America - 198
5. Alice In Wonderland - 171

COMING SOON – THE ADD