FEBRUARY, 18

MOVIES RELEASED

1-DR. JONES AND THE SWORD OF FAITH

Action Adventure
Directed and Produced by Steven Spielberg
Starring Ewan McGregor, Aishwarya Rai, Daniel Craig, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Rachel McAdams

Box Office: 99 mill.
Net Gains: 75 mill.

CMP Reaction: This was one of those movies destiny to go over 100 mill. But, beside that, a more than satisfactory breakdown that guarantee the beginning of a new saga.

2-THE PASSION BENEATH

Thriller / Tragedy
Directed by Brian Kelley
Starring Julia Roberts, Jamie Foxx, Kevin Spacey, Kiefer Sutherland, Tim Robbins, Willem Dafoe
Box Office: 22 mill.
Net Loss: 14 mill.

CMP Reaction: An unexpected flop. It wasn’t expected to be a blockbuster, but at least it could have recovered production costs.

THE MOVING THUMBS

1-DR. JONES AND THE SWORD OF FAITH

“Indy is back. It doesn’t matter that it is not Harrison Ford. It doesn’t matter that it is not Indy himself but his father. McGregor plays in fact his character as if he was Indy himself. And it works. Spielberg knows how to create this kind of shows. Pure entertainment without any other pretensions.”
-Robin Carson, ‘Hollywood Reporter’

“The old formula is back. Action, sense of humour, exotic locations and a bit of parody… While we wait for the official ‘Indy IV’ movie, this is the perfect appetizer.”
-Jack Harrison, ‘People’

“In so many ways, this is like Lucas’ Episode I for Star Wars. This is Indy’s Episode I. And the difference is that Lucas’ Episode I of his saga was a deception and this Episode I of Spielberg’s saga is so loyal to the original trilogy and maintains the level of fresh and addictive entertainment”
-Bill Holloway, ‘Entertainment Weekly’

2-THE PASSION BENEATH

“A movie full of tricks. First, Julia Roberts leads the cast. But she is murdered in minute 40 of the movie. It is so shocking for the audience that it takes time to recover from the surprise. Second trick, it is presented as a love story, but in fact the story turns soon into a murder suspense thriller and then into a traditional courtroom story. So many changes turn at last into a too undefined story. And third, without Roberts and a changing genre, audience don’t know at the end what kind of movie they are watching and Foxx sometimes acts both as the good or the bad guy of the story. Audiences are lazy and need a defined product and this is not.”
-Amy Ratched, ‘Today’

“This is one of those movies that stay one step before becoming a great movie. With too many things in common with another Brian Kelley’s story, ‘Deadly Sins’, this time the final product has not been manufactured so brilliantly. When the movie ends, you just have the feeling that there is something missing”.
-Anne Roman, ‘At The Movies’

“CMP has presented this movie as a Julia Roberts’ movie. But Roberts’ fans will run away from a movie in which their idol is brutally murdered in the first half of the story. CMP has also presented this movie as a love story and love stories fans will also run away from a love story where one of the lovers is murdered
in the first half of the story. So, guys, another marketing mistake that has kept audiences away from the theatres”.
-Bob Felton, ‘Today’

AWAITING RELEASE

1-HAPPY HAMSTERS

The Cast: Voices of David Schwimmer, René Zellwegger, Martin Lawrence, Lisa Kudrow, Anthony Hopkins.

The Director and Producer: Robert Zemeckis

The Plot: Meet, John, Eddy, Nibbles and Cuddels, four hamsters with normal lives. John is the leader. Eddy is the brains. Nibbles is the nervous twitching sort and Cuddles is… well, Cuddles, who has a split personality. They live peacefully in a pet shop avoiding being sold as they quite like the pet shop… and who want's some kid pulling your ears? When the pet shop gets a new arrival, the boa constrictor Lord Kahn, it's up to the hamsters to save all the animals in the shop, and themselves, when Lord Kahn sees that the Pet Shop is a free buffet, by the cleverist, braviest and wierdest methods possible.

The Comment: CMP’s Animation Division release its first production beside Robotech. A movie for all the family, written by Marcus Trax. An uncertain experience. But expectations are high in the sky.


2-ACE BANNER 2

The Cast: Hugh Jackman, Rebecca Romijn, Wesley Snipes, Michael Caine, Ken Watanabe

The Director: John McTiernan

The Plot: Ace Banner (H.Jackman) wakes up in a prison camp ruled by a mean general (K.Watanabe), in an unknown Asian country with little memory of how he got there. As he spends months there, he is tortured and questioned about a mission he was on that he barely has any memory of. Together with his only friend of all prisoners, a convicted drug trafficker (W.Snipes), Banner goes on in a desperate escape attempt. One outside the camp and chasen by Watanabe’s men, Banner contacts by radio with his Agency. An agent (R.Romijn) is sent to rescue him in the jungle. But things go wrong when Snipes betrays Banner, as he’s not a real convicted but an undercover agent whose mission is control him and try to get information from Banner about his last mission. As Banner slowly recovers his memory, he realizes that his own boss (M.Caine) is behind everything. Caine was the one to order Snipe to drug Banner and take him into the prison camp. Also, Watanabe and Caine are allied. They all want to know what Banner knows about a weapons traffic operation Caine is involved in and, after that, kill him. So Banner and Romijn will have to run away from everyone: Watanabe’s men, Snipes and the powerful Caine.

The Comment: One of CMP’s most popular lonely heroes, created by Matt Kubrick. This production has had a long pre-production process, but it is time to pick up the fruits. A blockbuster concept that should be… a blockbuster.

MOVIES IN DEVELOPMENT

CURSED NEVERLAND: M. Night Shymalan has decided who will be the starring couple of his horror movie: Harrison Ford, in his first work for CMP, and Reese Witherspoon, returning to the Studio after the successful ‘The Women Club’.

SAVING SAMANTHA MOSS: James Franco and Ben Foster are the new additions to the cast of this David Fincher’s thriller. Expectations are growing up as some web sites are already making so many comments about this dark story of desire and revenge.

UNCOMMON VALOUR 2 & 3: Greenlight for the two sequels of last season GMA Best Movie and Director winner, titled ‘Broad Pendant’ and ‘A Show Of Confidence’. For the first time, the Studio is going to produce two sequels simultaneously. The idea is to low down costs, as budget got too much out of control in the first movie.

T.Y.M. 2: Dennis Hopper (‘Dirty Sanchez’) has accepted to be in the movie. He will play the boss of Brendan Fraser and Jennifer Love Hewitt. According to his own words, ‘after being in ‘Dirty Sanchez’ I can almost accept any other shitty role they offer me if they pay me a good salary’. Was he just kidding?

STAR WARS: NEW ORDER: Only a few days after winning two GMA awards, more good news for Catherine Z. Jones. She will be in Spielberg’s movie playing Tobey Maguire’s older sister. Together with them, Daniel Craig has confirmed that he will be the villain of the story, ‘although I’ll be almost unrecognizable once characterized’, he has said.

THE GREATEST SHOW ON EARTH: Finally, it seems like Tom Hanks will be directing this Marcus Trax’s story. Clint Eastwood, who also was considered to direct it, decided not to. Hanks could also play a supporting role in the movie. But none of this has been officially confirmed yet by CMP.

WESTWORLD: Halle Berry and Anthony Hopkins are confirmed as the cameo roles to be seen in the amusement park. Michael Bay offered Arnold Schwarzennegger to make a cameo as a clone of Terminator, but Governor rejected the offer in the last minute after showing an initial interest.

THE LAST LAWMAN: Will Smith. That’s the final decision for the starring role of the new Jack Hammer’s trilogy. And, once he’s been chosen, their will be another cast changes to adapt it to the star. No names have been said of who’s going out or coming in to the cast.

RED LIGHT: Demi Moore has finally founded a director for her movie, after some candidates rejected her offer. It will be Joel Schumacher the one to turn into images the tearjerker Kubrick’s story about a love affair against all odds between a porn star (Moore) and a young and rich man (Kutchner). Oh, boy…

SMOKE SIGNALS: New screenplay by Marcus Trax. A drama that will be directed by David Mamet. And a new experiment for CMP: it will be filmed as an indie production with a low budget. If it works, the Studio will keep on making this kind of movies together with their ordinary blockbusters.

RUMOURS AND GOSSIPS

Matt Kubrick will make a turn in his career as director. It seems like his fourth movie as director will leave aside comic based stories or horror genre. Kubrick is working in a completely different kind of story: an epic drama about war and its casualties. He wants to make a three hours long movie that will follow a group of characters in the Iraq war focussing not in political issues but in the intimate and personal experience of them all. The project might be greenlighted as soon as the screenplay is finished.

It seems like Anthony Hopkins enjoys retaking his most famous character, Hannibal Lecter. Pretty soon, Hopkins will be the cannibal again twice. First, his voice as a hungry snake in ‘Happy Hamsters’ will be a parody of Lecter’s way of talking. And second, his cameo in ‘Westworld’ will be playing a clone of Lecter… that surprisingly helps the lead role, played by David Duchovny.

The screenplay for the sequel of ‘Hitman’ is already written. John Daws has finished it and the story is said to be even more violent than the first one. As production schedule is so full lately, it is unknown yet when will it be greenlighted.

New screenplay finished by the recent GMA winner for Best Screenplay. James Bradley has recently sent to CMP his last work, an adventure taking place in the years of the French revolution. It seems like the author of stories like ‘Chevrolet’ or ‘Fools Game’ also wants to experience in new areas. It is expected to be greenlighted soon.

THE AWARDS CHRONICLE
by special guest writer Charlie Kiggs

Not so many surprises after all. It is so funny that if you check out Amy Ratched’s article about the 1st Golden Moon Awards, she already wrote there that the main movies of this 2nd edition would be ‘Cathedral’, ‘September’s Gone’ and ‘Uncommon Valour’. And 24 movies later, those were the three movies nominated for the Best Movie award… Yes, it was a predictable night, but awards ceremonies always are. Beside that, there were the usual doses of glamour, humour and excitement. Here are my highlights of what happened there:

The Winners:

-It was Catherine Z. Jones’ night. Weeks before the nominations, CMP had already contacted her to present the ceremony. After that, she won two awards (Best Starring Couple, Best Actress). She came up to the stage so many times that she even changed her dress and hair. A deserved glory night for her.

-‘Uncommon Valour’. Only three awards, but Best Director and Best Movie included. ‘Fools Game’ also picked up three awards, but minor ones. ‘Uncommon Valour’ had it all to win: topstars cast, adventure, romance, historical background and that touch of class that fits so well with awards ceremonies. Will the announced sequels repeat the success?

The Losers:

-‘Chevrolet’. Five nominations and not a single award. A great movie, but there are not awards enough for everyone…

-Scarlett Johansson. What happened with her? According to internal CMP’s sources, she was a more than clear winner for Supporting Actress based on nominations votes. But, when it came to winners votes, there was a complete and sudden change and Charlize Theron beat her by a wide distance.

The Hosts:

-No doubt, Sean Connery and Ewan McGregor were my favourites. It was great to see both Dr. Jones together. Who won in the comparison?

-Who had the idea of putting together Robin Williams and Pamela Anderson?

-Some people are beginning to talk about ‘the curse of the hosts’. As soon as CMP hires the awards presenters (which you should know that is done weeks before the ceremony), their upcoming movies flop. Last edition it was Bill Murray and ‘The Tempting Diamond’. This edition, it was Grant / Wilson with ‘Styx and Stones’ (they already knew the flop of their movie, and boy it was embarrassing…) and Foxx / Roberts with ‘The Passion Beneath’ (they didn’t know their movie was going to flop yet and acted like sure winners, which is even more embarrassing seen in perspective…). Soon, nobody will want to present any award because of the curse…

The Elegance Competition:

-Charlize and Catherine (with both Dress 1 and Dress 2) were without doubt the most glamorous women of the night. But don’t forget Natalie Portman, so sexy with a transparent dress. (The Pamela Anderson thing is not sexy but obvious…)

-Men were the losers in elegance. Many of them forgot their tuxedos at home. Brosnan was too casual. Cruise wanted to look as a rock star. McGregor was dressed by his worst enemy. Only seniors like Connery and Nicholson respected the protocol rules. Gentlemen, you should be more careful.

The Rumour:

-‘Hot Iron’ got so may votes as Most Wanted Sequel that Harry Stark is seriously considering to produce the sequel, no matter the economic disaster of the first movie. In fact, Stark is considering that winning Most Wanted Sequel will guarantee the production of the sequel in the future.

My Predictions for 3rd Edition:

-I’m not as good as Amy Ratched with predictions… Well, ‘Saving Samantha Moss’ sounds promising and ‘The Passion Beneath’ may have some chances beside box office chaos. Let’s wait to see how develop other announced productions like ‘The Greatest Show On Earth’, the Matt Kubrick’s war movie or the upcoming ‘Uncommon Valour’ sequel…

INSIDE CMP

According to internal sources, right now CMP has more than 40 screenplays waiting to be greenlighted. Beside that, there’s a bunch of sequels coming up. That means that, if any screenwriter wants to see his project produced soon, they should be sent as soon as possible or it may take months before receiving green light.

Harry Stark has confirmed that CMP will remain managing its productions with Hollywood Mogul’s v38. Maybe, some time in the future this could be changed, but as many sequels have to be developed and box office results are being quite acceptable, no change will be made in that sense in the near future.

COMING SOON – THE ADD