JULY, 8

MOVIES RELEASED

1-WILD CARDS: ACE IN THE HOLE

Sci-Fi / Action
Starring John Travolta, Sharon Stone, Dwayne The Rock Johnson, Liv Tyler, Elijah Wood, Jason Schwartzman. Cameos by Bruce Willis, Matt Dillon, Kenneth Branagh
Directed by Alexander Aja
Box Office: 72 mill.
Net Gains: 56 mill.

CMP Reaction: This one was a risky release, as this third episode deeply changed the cast of the two previous ones and did not count with a prestigious director as Kubrick or Tarantino. But box office has been profitable enough to go on with this cult franchise.

2-GET CHRISTIE LOVE!

Blaxploitation / Cops
Starring Halle Berry, Samuel L. Jackson, James Woods, Taye Diggs, Vivica A. Fox
Directed by Antoine Fuqua
Box Office: 17 mill.
Net Loss: 9 mill.

CMP Reaction: One of those flops hard to explain. It had it all… but it just didn’t work, no matter the reason. A shame.

3-CROC ATTACK (DVD release)

Horror/Adventure
Starring Mira Sorvino, Shea Whigam, Patrick Fugit, Jessica Pare, Danny Trejo
Directed by Kevin Hooks
DVD Sales: 1.2 mill.
Net Loss: 0.1 mill.

CMP Reaction: Low budget, low risk. There are major productions that lose much more than 100.000 $, so nothing to worry about.

THE CRITICS CORNER

1-WILD CARDS: ACE IN THE HOLE

“Some times, movies can create a whole universe by themselves. While you are watching those movies, real life disappears and the viewer enters in a parallel world with its own looks, rules and inside logic. And it doesn’t matter how different from real life it can be: viewers just believe what they are watching. That’s the magic of moviemaking that only a few movies reach. And ‘Wild Cards’ has reached that level. The saga has created a weird world full of freak characters. But you can’t avoid believing that universe is possible no matter how strange it can be. Here is a new episode of the most original and surprising CMP’s franchise. And all I can say is: if you have not entered yet in Wild Cards’ universe, I don’t know what are you waiting for. Cause you are missing a hell of a experience.”
-Charlie Kiggs

“This one was a risky move from Wild Cards’ saga creator, Matt Kubrick. Some of the most significant characters from the two first movies (Chrysalis/Angelina Jolie, Yeoman/Samuel L. Jackson) were gone. Other main characters were relegated to just making a cameo (maybe to be recovered in future episodes). And a new group of characters was presented. So, although a sequel, it was also a complete new movie in many ways. Well, the saga has survived to the challenge. Alexander Aja, new director in this franchise, has made a kind of freak version of The Fantastic Four, opening new paths for this franchise to continue in the future. Fans of the saga are satisfied and it will be interesting to see what the future brings in the next episodes”.
-Wayne Hart

“Wild Cards movies never are a major blockbuster. The first one even lost money. But they have created a group of loyal fans that loves this peculiar franchise and look forward for any new episode. Personally, I think the second movie (‘Aces High’) has been the best of the trilogy. Alexander Aja is not Quentin Tarantino. And the new characters in this one are not as charismatic as the ones in the previous movies. But fans of Wild Cards are loyal and they have responded to Aja’s proposal. A predictable fourth episode will determine if the saga will be able to keep the interest of its cult followers or if this is the beginning of its decadence”
-Roy Winslow

2-GET CHRISTIE LOVE!

“Funny. I was not interested at all in ‘McMillan & Wife’ when I read it was going to be produced. But, when I saw the movie, I was happily surprised. It was entertaining, funny and thrilling. When I heard Cougan was adapting too the tv series about Christie Love, I was thrilled. It looked as a concept full of possibilities. And then I’ve seen the movie and I had a major disappointment. It just doesn’t work. Fuqua seems to be more worried in showing us how sexy Halle Berry can be than in telling us a cops action story. The sequences of Berry dancing at the night club – or the love sequence between Berry and Jackson – are longer than the fighting and shooting sequences. So finally it all stays in the surface and the movie looks more like a kind of music clip with Berry starring it than like the action movie it pretends to be.”
-Anne Roman

“Once again, Cougan has written a story that could fit perfectly as a tv series episode more than a big screen movie. Clichés, stereotypes, known situations and routine direction job by Fuqua. Jackson plays Shaft again. Berry repeats the femme fatale she already played more efficiently in ‘Dark’. Fuqua stays in the surface and even the sexy scenes are not as sexy as promised. Here is a hamburguer where they promised a sirloin.”
-Jackie O. Callaghan

“One of those movies you just forget the moment you get out of the theatre. All the talents do what they have previously done in so many movies before. All the situations are solved the way anyone would imagine they are going to be solved. It reminded me another Berry’s movie, ‘Perfect Stranger’. Those kind of thrillers that do not hide any surprise but just the light entertainment of watching nice looking stars acting cool”.
-Lilly Stevens

AWAITING RELEASE

1-THE GUARDIANS

The Cast: Tom Cruise, Russell Crowe, Anthony Hopkins, Jennifer Connelly, Jet Li, Minnie Driver

The Director: Ridley Scott
The Producer: Steven Spielberg
The Screenwriter: Steve Connors

The Plot: In the near future, the Federation will be the safest place to live on Earth. There is no crime. A Security Force, known as The Guardians, takes care of the citizens and criminals do not dare to act.

The members of The Guardians are conceived and born in a laboratory. Since their conception, they are genetically manipulated to be loyal, obedient, brave and fearless. They never feel remorse and they never question the orders they receive from the ruler of the Federation, Amadeus Linghem (A.Hopkins). They live all their life in what is known as The Academy and they do not have family or a home but they are also manipulated to not missing any of that.

Cruise and Crowe are Guardians. And two of the best. They were born and have grown up together and, although they cannot feel friendship, they are close mates. But Cruise has noticed thre’s something going wrong with Crowe lately. He is starting to question some of Linghem’s decisions and orders.

In fact, Crowe is beginning to understand that Linghem is a ruthless dictator. Federation’s citizens are subdued to him, there is not freedom of speech and laws control most of their lives. Crowe realizes that the people of the Federation are not happy or free.

Cruise, loyally, tells Linghem the strange comments and questions that Crowe is making lately. And Linghem decides that Crowe has to be eliminated. So he orders one of his scientists, Prof. Jasmine Hood (J.Connelly) to give him a lethal injection.

Connelly meets Crowe in the laboratory. Talking with him, she is amazed to check that Crowe is developing feelings, something that has never happened before with a Guardian. And she even feels attracted by him. At the end, Connelly tells Crowe what she was going to do. She tells him that he has to run away and let him free. And she lies Linghem telling him that she did put the injection.

From that moment, Crowe will wander around the city and discover how the people really live and his conscience keeps waking up. He meets a woman, Claire (M.Driver) that leads a clandestine group against Linghem called ‘The Resistant’. Crowe joins them and soon becomes the leader of them, developing actions against the Guardians and the Government.

Investigating who The Resistant are, Cruise discovers that Crowe is still alive. And he tells Linghem. From that moment, capturing and killing Crowe is a main objective for him. And he assigns Cruise and an specially cruel and mean Guardian (J. Li) the case. Their order: take no prisoners and kill Crowe.

Also, Linghem orders Cruise to kill Connelly as a punishment for letting Crowe alive. Cruise faces Connelly but, for the first time in his life, he cannot execute the order. He realizes he feels something he does not know how to define for her. So he just locks her in a secret cell.

The Resistant are growing. It is a war between Resistant and Guardians now and Crowe and Cruise are the leaders of each side. They meet once to deliberate. Both remember their past in common but understand that now they are enemies and their destiny is written: one of them will have to kill the other.

During their conversation, Cruise tells Crowe about Connelly. And Crowe decides he has to rescue her.

Supported by the Resistant, there’s a major rebellion of citizens against Linghem. A big battle take place in the streets. Meanwhile, Crowe, Driver and a small group get into the Federation’s jail where Connelly is kept as prisoner to rescue her. Cruise discovers what’s going on and run to the jail with a group of Guardians. Driver is killed in their first confrontation.

While the rebellion goes on in the streets, Crowe and Cruise face in the corridors of the jail. It’s the moment of truth for them and they know it. Something unexpected happens: Jet Li is going to stab Crowe in his back. But Cruise, instinctively, shoots and kill Li to save Crowe. Even Cruise is surprised for what he has done.

Crowe and Cruise talk. They talk deeply about human nature, truth and loyalty. But Crowe realizes that Cruise is not able to develop feelings beyond his mere instinct. Although confused, as he has just saved his life from Li’s attack, Cruise tells Crowe that he has to kill him because that’s the order he has been given.

So there’s a final fight between them. And Crowe finally has to kill Cruise to save himself. Cruise’s surprising last words while he is dying in Crowe’s arms are ‘you are my friend’.

Crowe rescues Connelly. Outside, the rebellion is winning. Linghem is lynched by the citizens and Crowe cannot avoid it. The citizens proclaim Crowe as the new ruler of the Federation. And, as the Guardians are programmed to obey the ruler, they surrender and subdue to Crowe.

The Comment: Without doubt, one of the major bets for this Season from CMP. Big, very big names involved. Astronomical budget. One of those breathtaking releases where success is more a relief than just a joy. Fingers crossed.


2- 72 HOURS

The Cast: Keanu Reeves, Famke Jansen, Willem Dafoe, Ariel Gade, Cameron Bright

The Director and Screenwriter: Joshua Collins

The Plot: Nick Hawkings (K.Reeves) is a man struggling through a rocky divorce. Thanks to his ex wife, he has lost everything. Money, posessions, custody of the kids who he can only see every other weekend. At the start of the film, he is a bitter angry ex-husband who can't stand to breath the same air as his ex. The first few minutes of the film before the opening credits is extremely haunting, A woman is shown tied up, gagged with tears streaming from her bruised and scratched face. A man's voice is heard saying 'Time's up' followed by the sound of a gunshot, the murder of the mysterious woman is not shown but implied. This woman has no real big connection to the rest of the story, just an unfortunate victim in this lunatic's bizarre world.

Nick's current ex-wife, Christine (F.Jansen) is the lunatic antagonist's next target. The antagonist isn't quite named in the film, but he's a serial killer who many of us would dub as the Ex-Murderer (W.Dafoe), who preys only on women who have been recently divorced. And how does he find this out? He has way too much time on his hands, internet research on divorce reports. His reasoning for doing this is explained later on in the film with a chat between Christine and the Ex-Murderer. His own childhood has seen a number of divorces, too many stepfathers in his life and all were rotten to him. When he finally found and married the woman of his dreams, she divorced him. It's also discovered in the film that he has children he never gets to see after a restraining order was put against him c/o his ex when he began stalker her and showing up to her house unwelcomed. Todd (C.Bright) and Chloe (A.Gade) are the teenage son and preteen daughter of Nick and Christine. Not much character development, they're just the children of these unlucky parents.

On one of the weekends when the kids visit their father, the ex-Murderer breaks into Christine's house, the two have a small scuffle that ends with him knocking her out long enough to take her away. It doesn't take long for him to call Nick and alert him that he has been chosen to play the game. At first, Nick is skeptical and thinks it's a joke, but he's quickly proven wrong when he hears the pleas of his captured ex. Of course Nick is told not to go to the police and if he doesn't find his ex in 72 hours she will be murdered. His game for the ex-husband is to send him on a race through the town (on foot) to find clues, solve riddles and puzzles that get him closer to his ex-wife, many of the riddles and puzzles involve him having to stop traps the lunatic has set, save lives, etc, keep him busy long enough to distract him from the 72 hour deadline.

Christine's involvement in the story is the damsel in distress, a frightened woman who is forced into conversation with her capter and if she refuses, she will have to withstand her own means of torture and abuse. He mostly asks her things that went wrong in the marriage. One of the saddest moments in the film is when the villain allows her to call her kids. At first she has a normal conversation with her son, telling him to take good care of his sister, but when she requests to speak to her daughter and she hears the calm innocent voice, unknowing of the danger her mother is in, Christine just breaks down and can't even talk to her. The idea that she won't live to see her kids one more time causes it.

it's up to Nick Hawkings to save the day. How far will you go to save the one you hate?

The day is saved, but the divorced couple don't really get back together. The villain gets his just desserts and dies at the end after a good fight scene with Nick. Even though the divorced couple aren't together, she decides to lighten up on him, give most of his things back, let him see his children more, etc.

The Comment: First movie by Joshua Collins. A traditional thriller with serial killer included. This kind of movies usually work out fine in box office without major surprises in one sense or another.


MAKING OF… WILD CARDS: ACE IN THE HOLE
By Matt Kubrick

Well here we are I never thought that we would make it to part 3! and this one will be the best one yet. It's no secret that I love Super Heroes and with each new Wild Cards movie I like to try and bring something new to each one. The question around the offices is why is he changing the cast around and relegating characters to minor roles??? it's simple there are alot of stories to tell and a ton of different characters to use. The characters that aren't appearing in this movie I feel weren't much needed any more atleast for the stories I wanted to tell. But I promise a Yeoman movie will come out! to keep things fresh I decided to bring in a new host of new characters. I have some good ideas for this group of characters for the next movie and I will bring in some new minor characters for a fourth. Dr. tachyon will be the only character to appear in all the movies and his life is about to get worse.

Now lets talk more about part 3, the only thing I hope is that people don't get into a whole debate about whether the puppetman is supposed to be like President Bush. Forget that and I hope the reviewers dont bring that up. It's a super hero movie that is it. We have action, the special effects are bigger, and a ton of loose ends get tied up. You will all love it!

MAKING OF… 72 HOURS
By Joshua Collins

Felt I'd take advantage of the latest asset, Making Of. Here's screenwriter/director Josh Collins discussing '72 Hours'.
On finding the talent:
It was really easy finding Christine, the Ex-Murderer and the kids. I wrote the roles specifically for Famke and Willem. At first Willem was reluctant to play another villain role, but upon reading the script he called me back and said "let's do it." As for finding Nick, the lead hero..that was an entirely frustrating ordeal. We wanted Depp, Cruise, Pitt, Crowe and they all had other things going on. Someone on the crew suggested we contact Keanu's agent and in no time we had our Nick. Once filming started I noticed how well everyone connected and worked together and was finally happy with the project.
On why he wrote it:
I have an amazing wife at home and three wonderful kids. The 'what-if' factor is good to use when you're a writer trying to relate to what you're writing. I pictured myself and wife and put the scenario in my head if we got divorced, now throw in an interesting twist like a guy who kidnaps divorced wives and makes their ex-husbands save them and you got something more interesting than just a film about a divorce.
On what he was looking for in the story:
I wanted to tell a story that had much more behind it than just a couple getting divorced. The whole idea behind it is something we MIGHT have to face someday. If you loved someone, spent most of your life with them, but things didn't end on a happy note like you had a big fight, and if they were drowning in a lake, would you extend your hand to them? Is it possible to hate someone you once knew so much you'd want them dead?
On the logic behind the 72 Hours:
*laughs* Well if it was called 24, people would expect it to be a movie based on the TV show. It borrows some elements from that show such as being played out in real time(reminds the audience what time it is and how many hours/minutes/seconds Nick has left) Though not as annoying throughout the film, I knew there'd be at least one jughead who'd sit there and look at the clock the whole time if it was displayed continuously on the screen. I felt 3 days seemed like a realistic ideal deadline for a killer to give his prey. They live in a huge city, it'd take someone an entire week nonstop just to see the entire city.
On the possibility of a sequel:
Absolutely not. It's not really the kind of story that needs to happen more than once. It had a beginning, middle and an end. If I had it my way I'd kill everyone in all my films to ensure a sequel never gets made, even the innocent bystander walking down the street with a baby carriage....and yes, the baby also...just in case.

THE PRESS CONFERENCE PIC

There they are. The big stars from ‘The Guardians’, together with director Ridley Scott and producer Steven Spielberg, posed for a family picture after the press conference in which the movie was presented to the media. Just looking at the picture, an obvious question comes to mind: is it possible by any reason that this movie may flop?


THE STAR PROFILE – STEVEN SPIELBERG

He’s number one. As simple and that. Prolific and versatile. He can direct or produce almost any kind of movie, from big action adventures to intimate dramas. He can do it all and he can do it well. And he has proved it again in CMP, where he already has by now a solid chain of successful movies both as producer or director.

CMP’S FILMOGRAPHY

ALICE IN WONDERLAND (Producer, B.O.: 171 mill.): A live action version of the Lewis Carroll’s classic. Spielberg let direction in Mike Newell’s hands and the movie became a critically acclaimed and financially profitable release. Dakota Fanning got a GMA nomination for Best Actress. Probably, the best movie adaptation ever from the classic tale.


DR. JONES AND THE SWORD OF FAITH (Producer and Director, B.O.: 96 mill.): Spielberg returned to his legendary saga telling the adventures of Henry Jones, Indiana’s father, in his younger years. He recovered the adventure spirit of Indy’s movies and box office answered in a nice but not as good as expected way. It is always rumoured that a sequel will be produced but the moment never seem to come.

STAR WARS: NEW ORDER (Director, B.O.: 229 mill.): George Lucas asked his friend to direct the first episode of the new trilogy. Steven just couldn’t say no. The movie became Season 3 Top 1 in box office and won the GMA for Best Picture. Despite the major success, Spielberg stayed aside of the next two episodes being replaced by Lawrence Kasdan. ‘New Order’ is one of the best Star Wars movies ever and a CMP’s classic.

THE GUARDIANS: (Producer, awaiting release): Spielberg teams up with Ridley Scott, another successful CMP’s director with the ‘Uncommon Valour’ trilogy, to make this sci-fi production with reminiscences of another Steven’s movie, ‘Minority Report’. It is expected to become one of CMP’s Season 5 major hits. The name of Spielberg in a project is a guarantee of success and no-one at CMP expects a disappointment with this one.

MOVIES IN DEVELOPMENT

HE-MAN: THE POWER OF GREYSKULL: Finally, the worst has happened. John Daws has decided to cancel his first project as screenwriter, producer and director after Keira Knightley and Kate Beckinsale decided not to be in it. Viggo Mortensen, who was already preparing his role as He-Man has expressed his disappointment: ‘I just can’t believe it. This is not serious. I will never accept to work with Daws again’, has said. Harry Stark and Julian Jones have preferred to stay in silence.

STAR WARS: BALANCE OF THE FORCE: Ralph Fiennes is the first new name in the new episode’s cast. Fiennes will play one of the main villains of the function, a sith republic general. He is an alien, so Fiennes will be almost unrecognizable under the make up and the digital effects. This will be his second work for CMP after playing also the villain in ‘Corsairs: The Search For Nantayalah’.

HOLLYWEIRD: Appealing starring couple for the new Joshua Collin’s movie. Scarlett Johansson (‘Chevrolet’, ‘The Little Sister’, ‘Paperback Story’) will play a character that she has defined as a ‘parody of Paris Hilton’. Jake Gyllenhaal, right after his work in ‘Flashes Of Life’, plays a starving young actor. He was also seen in ‘Saving Samantha Moss’ and ‘Uncommon Valour: A Show Of Confidence’.

PLANETSIDE: Yes, we know it, This cast never seems to end… This issue’s additions: Gillian Anderson, in her first CMP’s movie, and a CMP’s favourite, Anne Hathaway, previously seen in ‘Turning Point’, ‘The Greatest Show On Earth’ and ‘Dungeons & Dragons’. And the most surprising thing: there are still more names to be announced. Exhausting.

FACTION 12: Nicholas Cage has proved to be a profitable talent for CMP. ‘Captain America vs Superman’, ‘The Last Lawman’ and ‘Dungeons & Dragons’ have made really good box offices for the Studio. Now, he will star this one but also he’ll go one step further: he is also going to be the producer of the movie. Cage is already looking for a director. And the movie will have to be shot fast as Cage still has to shoot this Season the upcoming sequel of ‘Dungeons & Dragons’.

THE STORY OF ME: Lelee Sobieski completes the cast of this dramedy playing the daughter of the divorced couple formed by Robin Williams and Helen Hunt. Also, the same way he did in ‘The Greatest Show On Earth’, Tom Hanks has confirmed that he is not only directing the movie but he will also play a minor role in it. The same way Hanks did with ‘September’s Gone’ and ‘The Greatest Show On earth’, this is a low budget movie that expects to be a surprising success.

VORHEES: THE GROWING YEARS: Does anyone remember ‘Vorhees: The Early Years’? It was released in CMP’s Season 1, it meant Matt Kubrick’s debut as director and it made a surprisingly good box office. Well, here is the sequel. Kubrick writes and produces this new episode of Friday 13th already greenlighted.

LEGEND OF THE LAST LAWMAN: After the tremendous flop of ‘Minos’, Val Kilmer returns to CMP as one of the bad guys in this third Lawman’s episode. So Will Smith will have to deal with him, together with Gene Hackman and Kevin Costner, with the only help of Uma Thurman. Too many enemies, too little time…

PARODY OF ARTS: First, it was ‘Smoke Signals’. Then it was ‘No Evil’. Now, director David Mamet and Johnny Depp team up for the third time in this dramedy about a group of actors in the 1960’s written by Marcus Trax. Both names together have proved to be a synonymous of quality, so this sounds as good news.

ACE BANNER 3: It seems like Tarantino already has a cast for his new movie. Besides Jason Statham, the first name announced is Christopher Walken. He’ll be the villain of the story playing a millionaire decided to end up with Banner’s spy career whatever his face is.

RUMOURS AND GOSSIPS

Some stars are getting really busy this Season. It seems like Judi Dench wants to be the new Claire Danes, as she seems to be going to shoot three movies in a row soon. But she’s not the only one with a filled agenda. Stars like Johnny Depp, Ron Pearlman, Anne Hathaway, Sean Connery or Nicholas Cage are also committed to more than one production this Season. It is being so difficult for Julian Jones to coordinate all the shooting schedules to have these talents available on time.

‘The Guardians’ has joined the selective club of the most expensive CMP’s productions. Although it does not reach the costs of ‘Dungeons & Dragons’ or ‘Mysteries Of The Sith’, budget has increased beyond expected during the shooting and a solid hit at box office will be needed to recover production costs.

The cancellation of ‘He-Man’ has meant an important loss of money for CMP. Viggo Mortensen’s salary will have to be paid completely as he was already training to play the lead character. All the marketing campaign was already designed. Some settings had been built up (including the whole castle of Greyskull). So Harry Stark is pretty angry with the inflexibility of John Daws. The first consequence? According to CMP’s internal sources, the budget for ‘Faction 12’ will be reduced in order to compensate the expenses made in ‘He-Man’.


New writer joining CMP. Dominick ‘Nick’ Nails will be the new screenwriter working for the Studio next Season. His first project? The adaptation of a classic tv series. More to be known in the future…

STAIRWAY TO HEAVEN… OR HELL

HEAVEN

-DVD SALES: This Season, DVD sales have become an essential factor for the Studio. More than ever, DVD sales are meaning great incomes for CMP and, in some cases, have saved some productions from disaster. Some examples… ‘Syndrome’ jumped from a decent box office to an outstanding net gains thanks to DVD sales. ‘Lieutenant USA’ shot its great box office breakdown to the stars with DVD sales. The same can be said about ‘Game Boy’. So, more and more, DVD market is becoming more and more important for CMP.

-NICHOLAS CAGE: CMP has proved how much they trust Cage letting him become the producer of a complicated (and expensive) project such as ‘Faction 12’. A tough task for Cage and maybe a present from the Studio after his success in ‘Dungeons & Dragons’.

HELL

-HE-MAN: Julian Jones did everything he could to save this production, but it wasn’t possible. What was expected to become the beginning of a new franchise, has become a cursed project that will never see the light. Anyway, there’s a new version of ‘Masters Of Universe’ being produced by another Hollywood’s Studios, so after all He-Man may return to screen. But not in CMP.

-PRODUCTION REPORTS: Yes, they keep being hell for CMP’s screenwriters. As they all know, the content of a Julian Jones’ Production Report is not negotiable. And they usually mean bad news. So receiving one of them becomes hell for many authors.