MARCH, 7ON THEATRES NEXT WEEK
1-THE HOLDERS
Thriller / Supernatural
The Cast: Edward Norton, Scarlett Johansson, Russell Crowe, Daniel Craig. Voice of Patrick Stewart.
The Director: Ridley Scott
The Producer: Steven Spielberg
The Screenwriter: David Makalaster
The Plot: Brian Dainton (Norton) is a police officer with an interesting hobby: He collects any and all things reportedly paranormal. From voodoo dolls to what is reputed to be a haunted Tiki Idol.
One day he recieves a tip on a paranormal internet forum about 'The Holders'. Beings guarding objects that will supposedly bring about the end of the world when brought together. Brian decides to become what the forumite dubs a "Seeker" and starts searching for the objects, masking it as a vacation for his girlfriend Jenny (Johansson). However, things turn personal when Brian realizes that the objects are real, and the first one, The Holder Of Legion (Craig), takes Jenny from him. He is told that until he reunites the objects and him, he will never see Jenny again. The Holder gives Brian a small ornate cube which contains a part of the holder to guide him on the way. On the way to the first of 6 objects, Brian is attacked by who the cube informs him is another Seeker(Crowe) who wants to destroy the objects. Brian now races the other Seeker for the objects until, during one of their encounters, the Legion cube is destroyed by the Seeker. He reveals himself to be an Anonymous, member of an order devoted to finding and destroying the objects to prevent the end of the world. The order has existed for centuries and managed to destroy 2531 of the originally 2538 objects. Teaming up against Legion, Brian and the Anonymous must use the order's knowledge as well as that of the Holder of Knowledge (Stewart) to free Jenny and destroy all the objects, including Legion.
Stark’s Comment: One of those movies that has it all to become a blockbuster. Look at those names involved… If it fails, I just won’t find any reason to justify it.

2-BLINK
Drama
The Cast: Christian Bale, Hillary Swank, Kevin Spacey, Forest Whittaker, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Emily Blunt, Ivana Baquero, Jim Caviezel, Dakota Fanning
The Screenwriter, Director and Producer: Josh Collins
The Plot: Blink is centered around the rape and murder of a young girl (D.Fanning) in a suburban town. Her murderer is shown as very mysterious, in the shadows, in disguise. Not only does he kill the poor child, he burns the body and hides it in a place he feels is safe. So whodunnit?
Suspect 1 is the victim's father (C.Bale). Like most parents in these cases, investigators go after the parents and put the father under suspicion. While he deals with his grief and anger towards being put under scrutiny and accusing stares, the victim's mother (H.Swank) loses touch with reality. She is convinced her baby is not dead and that she will be coming home soon.
Suspect 2 (K.Spacey) is the recently freed from prison sexual predator. He has rehabilitated himself and is a church going man seeking redemption for his own sins. He's just trying to restart his life and leave it all in the past but unfortunately some people aren't that forgiving. He's the one who gets beaten up by people for murdering the girl even though he's convinced he didn't do it. When investigators can't seem to close the case they even try to get him to say he did it just so there would be closure.
There is a lawyer (P.S.Hoffman) in the film who specializes in defending murderers, rapists, thieves, whatever the crime, he has to rationalize it for his clients. But you can see that he isn't happy with his career. It's not what he wanted to do with his life but his dad was a lawyer and his dad's dad was a lawyer. His primary connection would be the lawyer of the sexual predator, suspect number 2.
One of the main investigators in the case is this detective (F.Whitaker) who deeply feels affected by the murder because his own child was kidnapped and murdered several years ago when he only took his eyes off her for a moment. He spends his time in this film putting the pieces together, investigating and trying to figure out who this girl was and who killed her. His marriage was ruined by the tragedy of his child.
The friend (I.Baquero) of the murdered young girl whose dad (J.Caviezel) turns out to be the one responsible. But the film goes into detail of the affects the death had on her. Grief of someone who was like a sister to her. The tragedy sends her through turmoil and she becomes interested in topics about death and ghosts. When she learns that her dad was the murderer of her friend it devastates her to the point of not even wanting to live anymore. She decides death by train is the quick and painless way for her to go, but stops herself at the last moment. Her finishing talk to a counselor are the final moments when she explains that there was something in her that made her not go through with it.
The last main character in the film is the unluckily lucky woman (E.Blunt) who survived her rape several years ago as a child herself and decides it's time to do something by getting a law passed to keep sexual predators off the street for good. Her rapist only served a few years in prison and she fights to make it so that there are much more harsher sentencing for rapists of children and adults. She's been feeling like the walking dead since her rape and really doesn't care about anyone or herself, but the news of this girl may actually be a key to care for those who really need someone to help them.
By the end of the movie so much time passes that the case becomes almost forgotten by authorities. Until the burnt remains of the child are discovered by a family on a hiking trip in a completely different country. They call the cops and it's soon confirmed that it was the kid the authorities were looking for. All signs of the killer point and lead to the capture of the dad of the best friend of the victim. Justice gets served, but it still can't bring back the little girl.
Stark’s Comment: An ensemble drama with an allstars cast. Collins has written and directed one of the most moving, disturbing and intense dramas ever produced by CMP. I know CMP is not good at making dramas work in box office, but I very much hope this one works. It really deserves it.

3-THE HOOLIGAN
Action / Comedy
The Cast: Hugh Grant, Penelope Cruz, Drew Barrymore, Jean Reno
The Director: Mike Newell
The Screenwriter: Joey Stark
The Plot: David (H.Grant) is an ordinary man, a modest teacher of a town school in Liverpool. But he has made one of his dreams come true: he is going to attend to the Football (Soccer) Champions League Final in the island of Mallorca, Spain. Once in the stadium, he can’t believe his luck: the ball is shot to the stands and he gets to pick it up and keep it as a souvenir.
Right after the match ends, he goes to the Stadium’s toilets. There is another guy with another ball there. And David does not notice that they accidentally exchange the balls when leaving. That will be the beginning of his adventure.
That very same night, two hooded assassins break into his hotel room. He has to jump through the window and into the hotel’s swimming pool to save his life. The only thing he takes with him is his beloved football. The assassins chase him but a mysterious woman in a Porsche suddenly appears to rescue him. It’s Veronica (P.Cruz). She tells him that he has become the target of an international criminal organization after the exchange of balls in the toilet. He took a ball full of stolen diamonds by mistake when it was going to be exchanged for money at the Stadium. Now, the leader of the criminal band, a man known as Monsieur X (J.Reno) wants his ball back. Veronica identifies herself as a CIA agent looking for the band. She tells David he has to run away from the island as soon as possible and takes him to a heliport.
David and Veronica fly in a helicopter from Mallorca to Nize, France. But before they land another helicopter appears and shoots them down. They crush in the sea but survive. A yacht comes to rescue them. Its pilot is Amanda (D.Barrymore), an eccentric and rich American tourist.
When a missile shot from the helicopter sink the boat, the three of them will reach the coast in a small boat. From that moment, they will initiate a escape from Monsieur X’s men all over the French and Italian Riviera, sometimes by car, sometimes by bus, sometimes even by horse, keeping the ball and running away from M. X’s hitmen. David will feel attracted by the enigmatic Veronica - who obviously flirt with him while Amanda’s only worry is to save her life - but he can’t find any minute to make ‘an approach’ to her.
They are finally captured and taken to M. X’s hide out in Paris. There, something unexpected happens. David discovers than Veronica is not a CIA agent but a member of M.X’s rival gang. Veronica’s band assault M.X’s hide-out and, in the middle of the mess, David and Amanda get to escape.
They are chased both by M.X and Veronica. The fourth of them end up on the upper floor of the Tour Eiffel. Fed up of the whole thing, David tears up the football in pieces… and there’s nothing inside of it. He didn’t really took the wrong ball at the toilets as everyone expected.
M.X and Veronica go away to keep searching the other football. Free at last, there’s another surprise waiting for David: Amanda is, in fact, a CIA undercover agent and not just an eccentric brainless tourist. She has been all the time trying to protect David and also looking to discover more about both M.X and Veronica’s gangs.
Now that everything has ended, David and Amanda decide to take a rest spending a few days together in Paris…
Stark’s Comment: A light action comedy with a ‘European touch’. We have shot it in some of the most beautiful locations of South Europe with a European team and cast. Not everything has to be so American… except for Drew. It’s fun and entertaining so I think it will work at box office without major problems.

MOVIES IN DEVELOPMENT

SCHROEDINGER’S LITTERBOX: Two peculiar cameos in this Linklater’s surreal comedy: Ethan Hawke and Christopher Walken will make an appearance in the movie playing themselves. And also two debuts in CMP: Seth Rogen and Paul Rudd.
SYNDROME: NEW EDEN: Some problems during the simultaneous shooting of the two sequels of the saga. Stark has asked the CMP’s Screenwriters Team to rewrite some parts of the story to save some inconsistencies in the storyline. Also, it has been known that Shia Leabouf refused to return to the saga as he felt his character had lost too much presence in the story. Kurt Russell (‘Ace Banner: Return To Fury’) has been confirmed as a new cast member in the second episode.
QUADROPHENIA: Jaimie Bell – still remembered for his wonderful work as the dancing boy in ‘Billy Elliot’ – has been chosen by Alan Parker and Ben Tyler to star this musical as the confused mod boy. And a nice coincidence. Two of the recent Academy Awards winners will meet in the movie: Daniel Day Lewis, in his first work for CMP, and Tilda Swinton (seen in Marcus Trax’s Star Wars saga). Both were cast for this movie before winning the Oscar.CELL MATES 2: Here is at last the sequel of the controversial Ted Froats’ story. Although they have also won the Oscar in its last edition, the Cohen Brothers won’t return behind the cameras as Froats didn’t like their work in the original movie. The new director has not been announced yet but, of course, Jack Nicholson and Johnny Depp are back. They won the Best Starring Couple GMA for the first movie.
MISPLACED AFFECTION: A man is the shared target of Kirsten Dunst and Keira Knightley’s love interest. And that man is no other than James McAvoy, in his debut for CMP. McAvoy replaces the original John Daws’ choice for the role, Daniel Radcliff. Radcliff was ruled out as he was too young for the role.ULTRAMAN: AFRAID OF THE CLONES: Here is the third episode of Steve Connors’ comedy saga. Eddie Murphy is back as lead star and producer but, as it is known, some regular talents from the two previous episodes will not return with him: Pamela Anderson and Beyonce Knowles. Also, a new director will replace Harold Ramis.

MAN IN THE MIRROR: Frances McDormand (‘Cursed Neverland’) will play Paul Giamatti’s ex wife in this Wes Anderson’s comedy while Matthew McGouneghy (‘Home’ and the Space Quest saga) will be Kate Winslet’s ex boyfriend.
GAME BOY 2: WARLANDS: Some stars are getting really busy this Season. Viggo Mortensen has just released ‘Yeoman’ and he is already working in this one, where he plays one of the few live action characters. A breath taking effort for Mortensen.
BABES IN TOYLAND: Jimmy Bennett will debut in CMP playing Abigail Breslin’s brother in this musical. Another debut: Adam Sandler plays a minor role replacing Johnny Depp, who refused the offer due to his commitment with ‘Cell Mates 2’. And a return: Kevin Kline, not seen in CMP since the first ‘T.Y.M.’ movie.THE METAL: Green light for another musical (and that will make three almost in a row). This one has been written by David Makalester and will be a comedy. Owen Wilson (‘Styx and Stones’, ‘Calvin and Hobbes’, ‘Lieutenant USA’) will play the leader of an awful heavy metal band. Michael Lehman directs.
MAKING OF… ‘BLINK’
By Josh Collins
Howdy movie buffs! Joshua Collins here to tell you a little bit about my new drama, Blink. First of all, I got the title from how fast it takes you to lose something as precious as your own child. Only the blink of an eye, a head turn, etc. The idea offers a realistic subject that you see on the news almost daily. The kidnap, rape and/or murder of a child. The plot has been done before, so in dramatic films you try to bring in interesting characters to tell the story. There really isn't a happy ending to this movie like most mainstream Hollywood films where a child survives. This offers the other side of the spectrum where the child doesn't survive and you never see him/her again
except in flashbacks that the mother character usually lives in when she loses touch with reality.There aren't very many innocent people in this film. The father is known as a suspect and he leaves the audience with that feeling throughout the film until he is proven innocent. You don't want to get to close to him because he might just be the guilty man, but you want to feel sorry for him like when he's in the grocery store and people are looking at him with suspicious eyes and parents are holding their kids away from him. i would say he's my favorite character in the bunch.
The mistake the detective makes in the film was he lost his attention of his child for a short amount of time. The mistake the main family makes is trust. Parents should be a little more active in their child's lives in terms of finding out who their friends are, who their friends' parents are. Because by the end, the murdering rapist turns out to be the father of one of victims' friends. It's made for a wakeup call for future parents. Too many of them are letting their guard down and in most cases it turns out for the worst. Practice safe emergency protocols with their kids. Not just stranger danger, but people you entrust to be with your kids when you aren't there. That babysitter or parent of a friend could be a mistake waiting to happen.
‘BLINK’, SPECIAL ARTICLE
The screenwriter of 72 Hours, Hollyweird and Dream of a King (also directed 2 of those films and got even more praise and multiple GMA nominations for one of those two) is caught in the cross hair of media with his controversial upcoming film, Blink. The film centers around the rape and murder of a young girl and the following effects it has on a suburban community connected through the tragedy. Past CMP films are no strangers to the issues of rape, however it's a new territory to involve the victim being a minor.
When reached for comment, Joshua said, "It's very tragic for such a crime to happen to anyone. And it's downright horrendous for it to happen to a child. So horrendous that people don't want it to exist. Unfortunately, it does and this film says we as parents and adults aren't doing enough to protect them from it. Sure we can't be around them 24/7, and the reality is it will never end, and all we can do is not let our guards down, be more involved with our children. If my oldest kid(who is about the age of the victim in the film) is not with me I let her use a cell phone for emergencies."Everyone in the cast is deeply moved by the production and fully supports it. GMA winner Dakota Fanning stated "The film is more about the aftermath of what happens. Coping, investigations, grief, are all things that go on in the film. You don't even see the horrific violent act take place. Just some struggling, knocking down, implied rape and the disturbing close up of the killer's eyes as he strangles his victim. My stomach churns still just thinking about the violent act unfolding in front of me, but Josh has always been an 'In Your Face' director forcing the movie going public to see how it is without the sugarcoat."
"I'm sorry that the film is too dark and depressing, but you really can't take a story like it and make light of the situation. It's a tearjerker and an eye opener. I hope this film can be used as a reason why we should never "blink" when it comes to protecting our babies" Collins said in his closing statement. CMP Studio head Harry Stark fully supports the film and wants it to be made the way the screenwriter/director wants it. When reached for comment, Stark simply said "If I saw anything wrong with it, I never would have greenlit it."
PIC OF THE WEEK
No doubt, ‘The Holders’ has one of the most appealing casts of the Season. Three GMA winners – Norton (Best Actor for ‘No Evil’), Craig (Best Villain for ‘Star Wars: New Order’) and Crowe (Best Actor for ‘Cathedral’) – and the multi-nominated Scarlett Johansson meet in a thrilling story full of mysteries set up by a duet of big names: Scott and Spielberg. ‘Vanity Fair’ has published a beautiful illustrated report with artistic pictures of the whole cast. Here is one of those pics.

TALK OF THE TOWN
Sooner or later it had to happen: two masters of horror finally meet in what is expected to become a
new horror saga in CMP. Matt Kubrick will turn into images the Stephen King's series 'The Dark Tower'. If it works on box office, Kubrick's intention is to develop all the Dark Tower's books. Stark has only bought the rights for the two first volumes by the moment.Tarantino will return. And this time it won't be another eccentricity, like directing sequels of his favourite CMP's sagas as he did with Wild Cards and Ace Banner. This time, he returns with something similar to what he already did with '22:01': a violent mobsters story. So similar that it is said that Robert De Niro will be working with him again. Has Tarantino run out of original ideas?
And now what? Last week we wrote that Stark already had a screenplay for 'He-Man'. Well, now he has two. John Daws has expressed CMP his intention of developing the original He-Man's screenplay that was cancelled when Daws announced his retirement from CMP. So now CMP's President will have to decide what to do with this 'inflation' of He-Man. And we wonder: does this old fashioned character deserve so much attention?
A surprising reaction. It seems like our 'What happened with...' section has caused an unexpected effect in CMP's writers. After only three of them posted (Sandra Bullock, Jim Carrey and Kim Bassinger), two of these talents have already received offers to be in future CMP's pitches.New writer joining CMP (but not unexperienced, as he already worked for F.A.R. Point Films): Ralph Franzwa is the third newbie joining the Studio this Season. But his first stories won't be seen until Season 7, as this Season's Production Schedule is already closed.
Jennifer Love-Hewitt has recently stated that she will not work again in a
'T.Y.M.' movie. She didn't like how the Studio treated her during the shooting and promotion of the last episode so, if any time a fourth movie of the saga is considered, Jennifer has assured that she won't be in it by any means.Also, Peter Jackson said in a recent interview that he will only direct one more 'Dungeosn & Dragons' episode. After that, he prefers to try new things. Remember that a third episode of this franchise is expected to be developed next Season. If his words are true, that would be the last one for Jackson, no matter if CMP goes on with the franchise.
According to CMP's internal sources Harry Stark wanted a
'professional' producer in command for the third Ultraman movie. Eddie Murphy produced the two previous episodes and they didn't meet expectations in box office. For this one, Stark asked Murphy to let one of the Studio's producers to assume that function. But he refused it and said Stark that, if it wasn't him, he would not make the movie. What can be assured is that there'll be a new director behind the cameras. Chris Columbus directed the first episode and Harold Ramis took the cameras for the second one. But none of them pleased Murphy, who is already looking for somebody willing to direct him.
Hi dear readers today instead of talking about movies that are in production I get to sit down and have a nice interview with Harry Stark himself, owner of Crazy Moon Productions!
Hi Mr. Stark it's good to see you and thanks for doing this interview. Shall we get on with things?
1.What made you decide to open your own studio and put out your own movies?
I had been working with HM as an independent producer since 1996. And suddenly I had this crazy idea of opening a Studio with a group of screenwriters. I’m the first surprised of how successful the idea has been and how much fun it is. I just hope CMP’s supporters enjoy it as much as I do.
2. What are your feelings about comic books and the movies that they inspire?
You’d never imagine this, Nathan, but I’m not a comic books fan at all. Don’t tell anyone! Anyway, movies based on comic books are more appealing to me than the books themselves. And they usually make nice box offices!
3. CMP is home to quite a few comic book inspired movies which one is your studio most proud of?
As everyone knows, I have become a big fan of ‘Wild Cards’. It’s not the ordinary comic story with perfect superheroes. These characters are so weird and most of them are morally arguable. I had never heard of Wild Cards before we started with the movies. And now I like that freak universe so much.
4. Why do you think comic book based movies are so popular when a person can read the same thing at home for a cheaper price?
It is not the same thing ‘reading it’ than ‘watching it’. As I said, these kind of movies usually are visually outstanding. You can make things with images you would never be able to do with drawings.
5. CMP has the Avengers coming out, when is the release date?

The first Avengers movie will be released next Season. And if it works as I hope, we already have another screenplay ready to be developed on Season 8. I think it is going to be a great saga. Gore Verbinski will be directing the movies. I wanted very much to have him working for our Studio and this is the perfect project for him. Believe me, expect something big.
6. What can you tell us all about the plot of the Avengers movie and what are you expectations for it?
Matt Kubrick has had this great idea of beginning the story right where ‘Captain America: Destiny’ ended. So, if you remember that one, the enemies now for superheroes are terrorists. But we will also have a classic comic villain, which will be Red Skull. And, of course, something will happen around the death of Captain America. It is a great plot.
7. Why do you think Sam & Twitch was a critical success but a bomb at the box office?
‘Sam & Twitch’ was a movie ahead of its time. A visionary work. Visually, it was as creative and innovative as Rodriguez’s ‘Sin City’. But moviegoers were not prepared for something so alternative and new. As I always say, audiences are too reluctant to appreciate innovation. It was a shame as I think it was such a brilliant and creative movie.
8. What do you think the draw of the Wild Cards universe is? the first one was a bit of a bomb in the theatre but the next two did relatively well and now with the Yeoman movie coming out what do you think is the cult appeal?
As I said, Wild Cards show really strange characters. That Presidential Candidate played by John Travolta… isn’t it great? Wild Cards is not about Superman-type of heroes. But it is not only the characters. It is all the setting, in that dark and decadent New York… I love ‘Blade Runner’. I think it is the best sci-fi movie ever. And Wild Cards is like a whole universe of replicants gone crazy *laughs*.
9. The studio has released a statement about a Chrysalis movie, what can you tell us about that and will Matt Kubrick be involved?Chrysalis is a very appealing character. She has a ‘seen through skin’ power, which means that her skin is kind of transparent… That would be a bit ugly on screen, so what we’ve done is that you can only see that some times on her but not all the time. I think there is a story about her and I’d like it to be told. But no, it won’t be Kubrick. He is so busy with so many pitches in his hands, so I have asked my brother and partner, Joey Stark, to work on a screenplay. If we can take a good story out of her, we’ll go on.
10. Lets talk about He man now shall we?
*laughs* We are always talking about He-Man… I’m so surprised with all that interest in this character.
11. The He man is kind of a controversial thing around the studio, it's seen a number of screenwriters can you give us a brief run down of the history and why they didn't happen?
John Daws was the first one to write a story based on He-Man. Then, he decided to retire. Fortunately, he didn’t. But we cancelled the project. Then Marcus Trax and Matt Kubrick sent screenplays for He-Man almost simultaneously. In fact, I remember I received both screenplays the very same day! And then came the CMP’s hiatus. And now Kubrick has sent a brand new He-Man’s screenplay. And then Daws has showed his will to release his original He-Man’s screenplay. Oh, boy… you still follow me? *laughs* This is the story and it looks as if there is a curse around He-Man.

12. Is He man really happening this time and what do you think the appeal of Viggo Mortensen is? everyone involved has always wanted Viggo!
Yes, all screenwriters have one thing in common: they all want Viggo. I have asked Viggo so many times to play He-Man that he is bored of hearing it *laughs* Well, now he is Yeoman, so we’ll see… But, yes, probably we will finally have a He-Man movie next Season. What I don’t know yet is which story we will be using…
13. What was the most surprising box office hit?
The latest one probably: ‘The Lollipop Man’. I was shocked. Also, I never thought that such a classic concept like ‘The Great War Series’ would work so well at box office. Every time that a low budget little movie, like the Lollipop, suddenly becomes what I call ‘a 100 millions movie’ I feel so proud and satisfied. It is a wonderful and thrilling surprise. The exciting thing about moviemaking is that you are never sure of how moviegoers will respond. You can manage certain hints based on experience. But you really never know…
14. What was the most surprising bomb?
Oh, we have had quite a few painful bombs in CMP. It is so frustrating when a movie you love – although the truth is that I always end up loving each and every CMP’s productions – unexpectedly flops. The worst experience was ‘Tales Of The Jedi’. It had it all! In my sleepless nights, I still wonder what the hell happened with that movie…
Well, thanks for the time to sit down and talk to me hope you have a great day

SALT AND PEPPER
SALT
PEPPER
MIDSEASON’S WORLWIDE GROSS TOP 5
Fifteen movies have been already released in Season 6. We have a huge financial success (‘HF’), a sleeper (‘The Lollipop Man’) and also a few minor flops by now this Season. Still there are another 15 movies to come before Season ends, but now that we are right in the middle of the Season, it is time to remember the best releases until now.
(Box Office / Net Gains)
1.HF – 193 / 229

2.POMPEII – 132 / 105

3.THE LOLLIPOP MAN – 108 / 131

4.THE CAVES OF STEEL – 83 / 68

5.YEOMAN – 81 / 91
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