MARCH, 7

MOVIES RELEASED

1-THE LAST LAWMAN

Action
Directed by Robert Rodríguez
Starring Will Smith, Halle Berry, Nicholas Cage, Gene Hackman
Box Office: 68 mill.
Net Gains: 35 mill.


CMP Reaction: Nice breakdown, but it could have been a bigger hit. Maybe audiences are beginning to get a bit tired of lonely avenger heroes…

2-POOR LITTLE RICH BOY

Comedy / Teen
Directed by Jay Roach
Starring Jason Biggs, Jessica Alba, Diane Keaton, Eric Balfour, Brittany Murphy, Ben Foster
Box Office: 4 mill.
Net Loss: 33 mill.

CMP Reaction: The biggest CMP’s flop ever. The movie was expected to have little gains or little loss, but nobody could imagine that it would enter in CMP’s history as the painful financial disaster it has been.

THE MOVING THUMBS

1-THE LAST LAWMAN

“A brilliant western. It doesn’t matter that the story takes place in a post-apocalyptic America. The movie respects all the rules of the western genre. If you just change Will Smith for Cary Cooper and the US Marshall badge for an old sheriff badge, you are watching ‘High Noon’. So, in so many ways, the movie is a tribute to classic westerns redefining the old genre and adapting it to our days."
-Charlie Kiggs, ‘The Critics Corner’

“This movie should have been a blockbuster. Why it hasn’t been a major success? Easy: Robert Rodriguez. Probably, the most overvalued director of our time. What good movie has really made Rodriguez? ‘Spy Kids’? ‘Shark Boy and Lava Girl?’ A mainstream blockbuster concept cannot be let in the hands of a freak that takes all his prestige from marketing more than from real directing talent.”
-Amy Ratched, ‘The Critics Corner’

2-POOR LITTLE RICH BOY

“Poor little movie. It just does not work in any level. It is not a funny teen comedy, it is not a moving romantic comedy… It is hard to find any appeal in this fable with a cheap morale about money and happiness”
-Roy Winslow, ‘The Critics Corner’

“A sad performance from the whole cast. Jessica Alba looks lost far away from her usual sexy role in action and sci-fi movies. Diane Keaton tries to save the function to end up overacting. Supporting roles make all a stereotype job. And Jason Biggs proves again that there is not an actor in him beyond ‘American Pie’. Boring.”
-Anne Roman, ‘The Critics Corner’

AWAITING RELEASE

1-UNCOMMON VALOUR: BROAD PENDANT

The Cast: Pierce Brosnan, Keira Knightley, Leonardo Di Caprio, Jude Law, John Cleese, Jonathan Jackson

The Director and Producer: Ridley Scott

The Plot: May 1779. In England Will Mason (J.Law), recovered from his wounds, receives new orders that will once more send him American shores. Now in command of the frigate Vanessa he has taken two of his brothers, Robert (J.Jackson) and Stephen, aboard his command but although Steve is working out well, Rob is a far cry from the young man he once knew and as they sail westward Will struggles to pull him back from the abyss. Meanwhile in New York, John Sinclair (P.Brosnan) and Tara Mason’s (K.Knightley) happiness is shattered when rumours surface accusing John of treason. With the whole city turned against them they fight to unmask the real traitor and restore their honour. In a brilliant ploy an old enemy of Sinclair’s – Col. Charles Courtenay (L.DiCaprio) – is revealed as behind it all and arrested. Soon after Will arrives with orders promoting Sinclair to Commodore, appointing him to command a squadron and charging them all with the defeat of an enemy frigate squadron. Before the hunt begins Sinclair and Will finally succeed in turning Rob around. Tracking the enemy to an anchorage in Maine the squadron attacks, defeating the enemy in two decisive engagements. Their mission completed they refit at Halifax then sail for England and John and Tara’s wedding. Only a few days out they are called to action once more, to prevent the Spanish from landing an army in Ireland. In a hard fought battle the Spanish are defeated and the squadron sails into Bristol where a hero’s welcome awaits them.

The Comment: The first Uncommon Valour movie won GMA Best Picture and it made a decent box office. Its prestige has grown up since it was released. So there is no reason why this sequel would not make it even better than the first one.


2-SMOKE SIGNALS

The Cast: Johnny Depp, Jennifer Connelly, Edward Burns, Diane Lane

The Director: David Mamet

The Plot: This is the story of four people who come together at a local meeting aimed at helping to get them to give up smoking. There they soon become friends, and enemies and we look at their life as they try to break the habit, all the while their private lives become intermingled. Depp plays a writer who has lost his inspiration since he gave up smoking. Connelly is a neurotic woman that hasn’t had any love relationship since her boyfriend died in a car accident when she was 20. Lane plays a woman and mother recently abandoned by her husband with a recent breast cancer diagnoses that tries to get over adversities. And Burns is a selfish Manhattan’s broker that suddenly loses his job and cannot keep his way of living. While they fight against their smoking addiction, Depp and Connelly will initiate a stormy love relationship and Burns will become more human supporting Lane to go through her pain.

The Comment: This production is not really looking for money but for quality. An intelligent screenplay, a brilliant director, a prestigious cast and a low budget. CMP tries to step into a new kind of movie productions far away from money-making concepts. Let’s see what happens.


THE STAR PROFILE – KEIRA KNIGHTLEY

Keira is an essential talent for CMP. She is attached to two of the main sagas of the studio: ‘Uncommon Valour’ and ‘Hitman’. Her role in ‘Pirates of the Caribbean’ made her one of the most popular actresses of the moment. Sexy and mysterious, her talent can take her to be one of the main female stars of the next decade. And CMP will keep trusting her as an appealing name for any movie project.

CMP’S FILMOGRAPHY

UNCOMMON VALOUR: THE FRIGATE CAPTAIN (Ridley Scott, B.O.: 55 mill.): A romantic role for Keira. She fitted perfectly in this classic adventure and shined as a sweet and intelligent heroine from the XVIII century. Nominated for GMA Best Starring Couple together with Pierce Brosnan.

HITMAN: THE MYTH OF JOHN JACKSON (Tony Scott, B.O.: 99 mill.): Screenwriter John Daws almost stated that he would not want the movie to be produced without Keira in it. So there she was. A completely different character from ‘Uncommon Valour’ and another hit in her career.

UNCOMMON VALOUR: BROAD PENDANT (Ridley Scott, awaiting release): Tara Mason is back. Although her character seems to lose a bit of presence in this sequel, Keira will contribute again to the movie with her elegant personality showing her most romantic side.

HITMAN. TWO WAYS TO DIE: (Tony Scott, under production): Back to her other franchise. Keira is already shooting this one with Colin Farrell again. And just a hint: her importance in the story will rise to the sky in this sequel, where she will play what probably will be the most intense scene of her career.

PRESS CONFERENCE – ‘SMOKE SIGNALS’

The whole cast of the movie presented it in a press conference in New York City. It was a nice and modest event where the stars of the movie, together with director David Mamet and writer Marcus Trax, talked about this dramatic and moving story of four different kind of persons dealing with cigarettes and life. At the end, the cast posed for a picture in front of a ‘no smoking’ poster.


MOVIES IN DEVELOPMENT

THE TOYMAKER: The cast of Coppola’s historical adventure keeps growing and growing. Robert De Niro (‘The Heirs’) plays a fanatical priest while Heath Ledger (‘Captain America’) will be the hero of the story and Kate Winslet’s love interest. The shooting keeps going on in Paris, Versailles and Orleans.

DIVE IN THE SUN: Michael Mann is proving to be an efficient producer and director. In just a few weeks, this action adventure taking place during Second World War will be shot and ready to release.

HOME: Here goes the complete cast of Matt Kubrick’s three hours epic drama about the Iraq war: Matt Damon (‘Indigo Prophecy’), Robert Downey Jr. (‘Hot Iron’), Hillary Swank (‘Taurus 3’), Forest Whitaker, Ed Harris (‘Taurus 3’), Julianne Moore, James Gandolfini ('Sam & Twitch') and Mathew McGouneghy (‘Space Quest’). All of them have gone through hard training sessions before beginning the shootage.

WILD CARDS 2: ACES HIGH: The first Wild Cards movie won the GMA for Best Cast. And that same cast will return in this one. All the members of the original cast will return in the sequel together with some new faces.

OUTER EYE: This peculiar Marcus Trax’s story about a man (John Cusack, also directing) telling us his life through his more intimate thoughts already has a female lead star. Uma Thurman (‘Hot Iron’) will be only one of the love interests Cusack has in the story.

CONTRACT KILLING FOR DUMMIES: Strange title for the new Ted Froat’s screenplay after ‘Saving Samantha Moss’. A twist in his career as this one will be a dark humour comedy lampoon. Zach Braff will try to resurrect his CMP’s career after the flop of ‘Don’t Stand So Close To Me’ starring this one and rumour has it that he could even be directing it.

THE LITTLE SISTER: Harvey Keitel will debut in a CMP’s movie with this film noir. And not only Scarlet Johansson but also Salma Hayek (‘Sam & Twitch’) will be one of the sexy vamps fooling around George Clooney. A nice compensation after Hayek fought hard (and lost) to star ‘The Last Lawman’.

SPACE QUEST II & III: As it happened with ‘Uncommon Valour’, CMP will produce simultaneously the two sequels of this saga. The first movie was a big flop, but CMP has decided to take the risk now that financials are going well. Roland Emmerich, director and producer of the first movie, will also take care of the rest of the trilogy.

THE GREATEST SHOW ON EARTH: Another complete cast, as long as the phone book. Tom Hanks hasn’t looked for top stars to lead the cast of his new CMP’s movie as director but for a solid group of talents, assuming himself a supporting role. Here is the list of names together with their previous works for CMP: Gary Sinise (‘Bullitt’), Josh Hartnett, Anne Hathaway (‘Turning Point’), Rachel Weisz (‘Space Quest’), Robin Williams (‘Deadly Sins’, ‘Saving Samantha Moss’), Steve Buscemi (‘Checkmate’), Tom Hanks (‘Court Appeal’, ‘September’s Gone’), Ving Rhames (‘The Crusades’, ‘Captain America vs Superman’) and Tommy Lee Jones (‘The Tempting Diamond’).

HITMAN: TWO WAYS TO DIE: Finally, CMP will respect the original John Daws’ screenplay for the sequel, including all the violence in it. Some surprises are announced in the plot of the return of John Jackson / Colin Farrell to screens. And a possible third movie of the saga is rumoured if this one works.

COMING SOON – THE ADD


RUMOURS AND GOSSIPS

Has Brian Kelley retired from screenwriting? The author of brilliant stories such as ‘Deadly Sins’ (GMA Best Screenplay winner), ‘The Women Club’, 'Indigo Prophecy' and ‘The Passion Beneath’ seems to have abandoned screenwriting. It is not confirmed if it has something to do with the flop of his last movie written and everyone at CMP hopes that Kelley will keep writing for the Studio new stories as interesting as the ones he already has.

‘Uncommon Valour: A Show Of Confidence’ is the title of the third movie of the Jack Hammer and Ridley Scott’s saga. And it has been shot simultaneously with the second one, now awaiting release. It is said that some new talents not showing in ‘Broad Pendant’ will be seen in this third one. And also, Johnny Depp, GMA Best Villain winner, will reappear in the story making a cameo. Harry Stark has announced that this finale chapter of the frigate’s adventures won’t be released until season 4.

Do teen comedies have any future in CMP? ‘Poor Little Rich Boy’ has been a tremendous disaster after the previous flop of ‘Don’t Stand So Close To Me’. Because of that, the Studio has decided that the new comedy ‘Contract Killing For Dummies’ won’t be treated in its marketing campaign as a teen comedy, but as a comedy for all audiences, beside it is in fact a teen oriented story.

INSIDE CMP

Yes, ‘Poor Little Rich Boy’ has jumped on top of CMP’s major disasters. Nobody expected that this little nice comedy could have such a big cost for the Studio, with 33 millions of loss. The embarrassing list of big flops from CMP includes other deceptions such as ‘Hot Iron’ (9 mill.) ‘The Tempting Diamond’ (10 mill.), 'The Bridge' (11 mill.), 'Tales Of The Jedi' (12 mill.) or ‘Don’t Stand So Close To Me’ (12 mill.).

Julian Jones, CMP’s Production Division CEO, has designed a new strategy for the Studio, beside investing in as many sequels as possible. In order to attract and keep happy major stars, CMP will offer them the chance to not only star but also direct or produce their own movies. Talents like Sandra Bullock ('The Women Club'), Eddie Murphy ('The Return Of Ultraman') or Demi Moore ('Red Light') have already produced their own movies and others such as Tom Hanks ('September's Gone' and the upcoming 'The Greatest Show On Earth') or George Clooney ('Dead Man's Song') have worked behind the cameras.

CMP’S TOP 10 ACTRESSES

Last issue, actors list was posted. Now, here are the top ten actresses for CMP according to experts:

1-JULIA ROBERTS (‘Court Appeal’, ‘The Passion Beneath’)
2-ANGELINA JOLIE (‘Sam & Twitch’, ‘Wild Cards’, ‘Westworld’)
3-RENÉ ZELLWEGGER (‘Happy Hamsters’)
4-NICOLE KIDMAN (‘The Heirs’, ‘The Heirs – Part 2’)
5-CAMERON DIAZ (‘Robotech 2’)
6-JODIE FOSTER (‘Turning Point’)
7-CATHERINE Z. JONES (‘Fools Game’, ‘Star Wars: New Order’)
8-CHARLIZE THERON (‘Cathedral’)
9-NATALIE PORTMAN (‘Saving Samantha Moss’)
10-HALLE BERRY (‘Dark’, ‘Westworld’, ‘The Last Lawman’)