THE MIDWEEK NEWS # 3

MOVIES RELEASED
Things couldn’t go better

1-CORSAIRS
Adventure / Treasure
Directed by Martin Campbell
Starring Antonio Banderas, Naomi Watts, Patrick Stewart, Benjamin Bratt
Release Date: Wk 5, December
Box Office: 169 mill.
Net Gain: 144 mill.

2-BILL AND THE ROCKET MAN
Comedy / Adult
Directed by Wes Anderson
Produced by George Clooney
Starring Paul Giamatti, George Clooney, Holly Hunter, Kate Winslet
Release Date: Wk 2, April
Box Office: 102 mill.
Net Gain: 89 mill.

CRITICS SAID

1-CORSAIRS

“We have ‘Pirates of the Caribbean’. Did we really need ‘Corsairs’?”
-Andrew Kiggs, ‘Variety’

“I enjoyed it. ‘Corsairs’ took me back to the old classic spirit of adventure movies. It smelled like a Burt Lancaster or Errol Flynn movie. The movie does not depend so much on special effects but on a solid adventure story directly inspired by the classics”
-Amy Ratched, ‘Today’

“Banderas knows how to use the sword. I felt like Zorro was transported to the distant seas. Nothing new in it. But I had a good time. A sure bet for CMP. They know how to make money”
-Billy Conn, ‘The New York Post’

2-BILL AND THE ROCKET MAN

“Finally, CMP has decided to produce a quality movie and not only an easy blockbuster. I just hope they keep doing it. Box Office is not everything in life”
-George Fett, ‘The Chicago Tribune’

“Brilliant. Touching. Funny. Thought-provoking. You’ve got my five stars, guys.”
-Lilly Stevens, ‘USA Today’

“The chemistry between Giamatti and his imaginary friend, Clooney, is absolute. Hunter makes an amazing work as the demanding and a bit hysterical wife. Winslet is full of class. And Wes Anderson has finally made the movie we expected from him since ‘The Royal Tenenbaums’. What else can be said?”
-Roy Fallow, ‘The Los Angeles Times’

AWAITING RELEASE
From court to eternity

COURT APPEAL: Inspired by the classic Hepburn and Tracy’s movie ‘Adam’s Rib’, Hanks and Roberts play a married couple of lawyers facing each other in the trial of a presumed murderer, Nick Nolte. Roberts believes in his innocence while Hanks is convinced he is guilty. As they search the truth, someone seems to be determined to kill them. Queen Latifah plays the funny Hanks’ assistant while John Goodman plays a detective that helps the starring couple in their queries. Ron Howard directs.

TAURUS 3: A claustrophobic sci-fi action movie. See ‘The Movie File’.

THE MOVIE FILE

Taurus 3
Action / Sci-Fi

The Cast : Samuel L. Jackson, Hillary Swank, Ed Harris, Ashton Kutcher, Val Kilmer, Forest Whitaker
The Director: Renny Harlin
The Plot: In the year 2750, Planet Earth has completely lost its ozone layer. To keep the planet habitable for humans, ozone has to be created artificially in huge space stations that function as gas plants extracting ozone gas from space and taking it to Earth where it is processed to protect the planet. Ozone gas has become the most valuable material for humans as their survival depends on it. Taurus 3 is the biggest of those ‘space plants’. It is ruled by Commander Ike Mulligan (S.L. Jackson). Dr. Randah Ford (H.Swank) is ahead of the team of scientists that extract and manipulate the ozone in the space station. Taurus 3 suffers a terrorist attack. Terrorists are lead by Jay Hillander (E.Harris), a wise and cruel man, who has an accomplice inside the Taurus 3 crew: Lieutenant Bill Oswell (V.Kilmer), who Mulligan considered his best friend. Hillander has planned to take control of all the space stations in order to retain the ozone and blackmail the Earth Governments. Hillander and his men murder everyone in Taurus 3. Only Mulligan, Dr.Ford, a young cooker (A. Kutchner) and a noble mechanic (F.Whitaker), survive to the attack and escape. Hillander’s men look for them all over Taurus 3 while they try to make his plan fail, looking for a radio to alert Planet Earth about the attack and fighting against the band. As things get complicated, ozone could be destroyed and that would mean the end of life in Planet Earth.


MOVIES IN DEVELOPMENT
Delays and changes

ACE BANNER: Hugh Jackman stars in this action movie about a secret agent fighting against terrorists. Ace Banner is a Bond-esque character experienced in saving the world from the bad guys. Viggo Mortenssen and Jessica Biel are confirmed to join Jackman in what might be the beginning of another franchise for CMP.

CAPTAIN AMERICA: Bryan Singer has finally taken control of this production. And some changes have come with him. Ben Affleck will no longer be Captain America, as Singer and him had certain differences about the story. Singer is now looking for somebody else to star. Brett Rattner is still directing, although some rumours have run about differences between producer and director. All this has delayed the beginning of the shootage.

ROBOTECH: Michael Bay has almost finalized his debut as animation movies director. No top stars have been hired for the voices in order to keep the budget controlled. CMP wants to keep this one as a cheap production in order to get as much net gains as possible.

THE CRUSADES: Another issue, another bad news. Ridley Scott has definitely abandoned this project. Paul Verhoeven has been urgently hired to substitute him. Russell Crowe and Jennifer Connelly keep waiting to begin. And CMP’s piggy bank keeps getting empty due to all the delays.
DEADLY SINS: An interesting pitch about a rabi accused of murdering his wife has been immediately greenlighted by CMP. The screenplay is based on a true story and first news about it says that Steven Spielberg has shown to CMP his interest in producing it.

RUMOURS AND GOSSIPS
CMP loves franchises

Matt Kubrick, writer and executive producer of ‘Fear The Darkness’ has already presented to CMP the screenplay for a sequel. The surprise is that any of the characters from the original movie would appear in it, except the evil Darkman. The premise is so interesting that the story could be greenlighted soon.

The horror saga ‘Friday the 13th’ could be resurrected by CMP from an innovative point of view. CMP’s Executive Board is considering an interesting premise that has arrived to their offices recently.

Two sequels have received greenlight: The first CMP’s hit ‘T.Y.M.’ and the second movie of the trilogy ‘The Heirs’. Productions won’t start yet. A new director is needed for ‘T.Y.M. 2’, as Bryan Singer is too busy producing ‘Captain America’ and Martin Scorsese is still working to complete the cast for his second movie.

'Deadly Sins' is expected to become a controversial movie. The story of a Rabi accused of murdering his wife worries CMP’s Executive Board, as it can generate strong reactions from the Jewish community.

Harry Stark, CMP's President, has edited a press release denying to be the man beside Jessica Alba in certain pictures recently edited by a few gossips magazines. Stark has stated firmly that he and the star from the CMP's movie 'T.Y.M.' have nothing but a working relationship. Alba is expected to be working for CMP again soon in the upcoming sequel of 'T.Y.M.' Here's one of the pics that were published:

INSIDE CMP
Who said ‘financial problems’?

Although the drama ‘The Clown Smile’ has been the only flop of CMP, Harry Stark is looking for new dramas to be produced by the Studio. The Company does not want to focus only on action and sci-fi blockbusters, so Stark is actively looking for good drama writers to present him interesting pitches.

Anyone in CMP expected ‘Bill and the Rocket Man’ to become such a big hit. Stark had even assumed that the movie could lose money. Audiences' reaction to this strange story has got by surprise to everyone at the Company.

DVD sales are more and more important every day. A good example is ‘The Mogulers’. The movie has become the number 1 hit for CMP not only because of ticket sales but mainly because of the outstanding sales in DVD.

CMP’S WORLWIDE GROSS TOP 5

1. The Mogulers - 233
2. T.Y.M. - 199
3. Corsairs - 169
4. The Heirs - 158
5. Bullitt - 144
   

COMING SOON – THE ADD