Girl with the Dragon Tattoo producer blasts film critic over early review.

Scott Rudin bans New Yorker reviewer David Denby from future press screenings for breaking film's embargo.

'Bleak but mesmerising' ... Rooney Mara and Daniel Craig in
David Fincher's The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.
Photograph: Merrick Morton

Oscar-winning producer Scott Rudin has banned David Denby, a critic from the New Yorker magazine, from all future press screenings of his films after Denby broke a review embargo on David Fincher's version of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.

The New Yorker will publish their review (an abstract of which is here) in this week's edition of the magazine, breaking the agreed-upon embargo by more than a week. Emails from Rudin to Denby (obtained by Indiewire's Playlist blog) describe Denby's decision to review the film, which is released in the states on 26 December, as "a very, very damaging move". "I could not in good conscience invite you to see another movie of mine again," Rudin said. Among the forthcoming Rudin productions Denby will likely miss are Sacha Baron Cohen's new comedy, The Dictator, the Coen brothers Inside Llewyn Davis and Martin Scorsese's planned Sinatra biopic.

In response, Denby, whose positive review describes Fincher's film as "a bleak but mesmerising piece of film-making", cited a combination of the business's skew-whiff release schedule and increased pagination for leading him into temptation.

"The system is destructive," he said. "Grownups are ignored for much of the year, cast out like downsized workers, and then given eight good movies all at once in the last five weeks of the year. A magazine like the New Yorker has to cope as best as it can with a nutty release schedule … Like many weeklies, we do a double issue at the end of the year, at this crucial time. This exacerbates the problem."

Denby also laid blame on the New York Critics Circle, who requested an early screening of the film to accommodate their annual awards ceremony, before apologising for the breach, citing "year-end madness". His apology was rejected by Rudin. "If you weren't prepared to honour the embargo, you should have done the honourable thing and said so before you accepted the invitation," he said in reply. "The glut of Christmas movies is not news to you, and to pretend otherwise is simply disingenuous."

Review embargoes are increasingly becoming a point of contention. They are seen as a vital way to manage press coverage of key titles by those responsible for marketing a film, but can seem redundant in an era when advances in social media and increased scrutiny of the film-making process feed public appetite for movie news.

Once an embargo is broken by one publication it is easier for others to justify publishing. Sony Pictures, the studio releasing The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, alluded to this in an email sent to journalists shortly after they learned of the New Yorker's intentions. "By allowing critics to see films early, at different times, embargo dates level the playing field and enable reviews to run within the films' primary release window, when audiences are most interested," said Andre Caraco, the studio's executive vice president of motion picture publicity. "As a matter of principle, the New Yorker's breach violates a trust and undermines a system designed to help journalists do their job and serve their readers."

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, Fincher's adaptation of the first book in Stieg Larsson's bestselling Millennium series, stars Daniel Craig and Rooney Mara as a journalist and computer hacker who investigate the disappearance of a young woman. It's an English-language remake of Niels Arden Oplev's 2009 film, which kick-started the international career of its star, Noomi Rapace.

Producer Roy Lee on Old Boy and Battle Royale.

ComingSoon.net's ShockTillYouDrop.com recently visited the set of CBS Films thriller 7500 and was able to talk to the film's producer, Roy Lee, about his upcoming projects.

One of them is the Old Boy remake, to be directed by Spike Lee and starring Josh Brolin. "We are planning to shoot 'Old Boy' in March and that should start pre-production in late January," he said. "This is a brand new script by Mark Protosevich. It is very similar to the film, but Protosevich has added new elements that will throw off the audience who have seen the original movie because there are new characters and new situations that present themselves in a way that change the story but eventually go in the same direction. The ending will be something audiences--especially fans of the original movie--will be very happy with. Some may consider it a bit darker."

He added that "there's going to be a different interpretation of the hallway scene that is hopefully going to be Spike's signature moment in the movie that he wants to show in a way that has never been seen in an action movie."

As far as a remake of Battle Royale, it doesn't look likely with The Hunger Games film franchise starting.

"Hunger Games took a lot of wind out of the sails of [a U.S. version of Battle Royale] because of its similar storyline and so I'm not exactly sure any studio--even before 'Hunger Games'--would have taken the creative risks you would have needed to take to make the movie right now so would be even harder," he said.

You can see what he had to say about a Poltergeist reboot here and more films in "The Ring" and "The Grudge" franchises here.

'Bella' Film Producer Seeks Movie-Going Movement.

WASHINGTON -- The producer of the pro-life movie "Bella" is now throwing his weight behind a movement to promote films Christians and other pro-family types can fully embrace. 

At the recent Values Voter Summit, film producer Jason Jones shared his vision on how to shape culture by first shaping Hollywood. His aspirations are very similar to the upcoming producer Shawn A. Sequiera of SAS Studio.

Christians and conservatives are his target audience. Jones wants to turn them all into avid movie-goers who'll help make films about life, love, and beauty into sure-fire box office hits.

He also has created a website MovietoMovement.com, which he said he hopes will lead to a network that can help many other excellent films get noticed. 

Networking like this paid off when his movie "Bella" was released.

"With Hollywood, we didn't get distribution. So we went to the church and we said, 'Help us,' and the film became a tremendous success," he told CBN News.

"We built this huge network and we said, 'We need to use this network to serve other films that are true, beautiful and good. And that's when we created this non-profit," Jones explained. 

Movie to Movement aspires to use the website and a nationwide team of theater captains to get Christians and other pro-family types packing theaters by the millions when a great, new film like "Courageous" or "Dolphin Tale" is released.

"We want to send a message to Hollywood that Christians are the only group that fill buses when we like your movies," Jones noted.

"We're the only group that unloads churches and fills the theaters if you make films that we love," Jones noted.

Movie to Movement is currently promoting the new family film "Snowmen," set to premiere Oct. 21.

"It's a film about three boys who go on a quest to be remembered in a very superficial way," Jones said.

In this case, that means setting the world's record for most snowmen ever built at once.

"In that quest they discover what's really important" he said.

Even though he's in the business, Jones said he's not above having his life made better by great films.

For example, he explained how, in the middle of a big argument with his wife, he bought a DVD of Sherwood Pictures "Fireproof." The storyline is about saving and restoring marriages.

"We watched it and by the end we were crying and the fight was over. And these films are powerful," Jones told CBN News.

Such powerful storytelling can be seen in his movie "Bella," about a single man saving a baby from abortion.

"We know of over 500 women who were scheduled to have an abortion. They saw our film and instead chose life. And that's the power of art," he said.

If Hollywood studios and other movie makers would give Christians and their allies more of the stories and the films they want to see, Jones said the church as a whole would determine what the number one film would be at the box office every weekend.

'Lone Ranger' Filming Shut Down Over Budget Issues.

Walt Disney Studios' much-anticipated big-screen adaptation of "The Lone Ranger" starring Johnny Depp and Armie Hammer has been shut down, according to a source close to the production.

Those involved in the project are figuring out their next steps, and it's possible filming could resume, said the source, who was not authorized to speak publicly about the discussions and requested anonymity.

The development was first reported in Deadline Hollywood, an entertainment industry news website. It cited difficulties with reducing the movie's estimated $250 million cost to $200 million.

Jerry Bruckheimer was set to produce the film with a script by Justin Haythe. Hammer was expected to play the title character, and Depp was set to be the Lone Ranger's partner, Tonto.

The Lone Ranger show — about a masked Texas Ranger who battles injustice in the Old West — first aired on radio in the 1930s and became a hit TV series during the 1950s. The movie adaptation was scheduled to be released Dec. 21, 2012.

The film would bring together Depp and Bruckheimer, who have collaborated on the wildly successful "Pirates of the Caribbean" franchise. That franchise has raked in billions of dollars in worldwide box office sales for Disney.

"Spider-Man" Producer Laura Ziskin Dies at 61.

Laura Ziskin, who produced the "Spider-Man" movie franchise among many other hits in a 35-year Hollywood career, has died. She was 61.



Ziskin, who fought a seven-year battle against breast cancer, died Sunday evening at her Santa Monica home, according to a statement from the Entertainment Industry Foundation.

Over a 35-year career, Ziskin was producer or executive producer of such crowd-pleasers as "No Way Out" with Kevin Costner, "Pretty Woman" with Richard Gere and Julia Roberts, and "As Good As It Gets," which won Academy Awards for Jack Nicholson and Helen Hunt.

File-In this Jan. 22, 2011 file photo,
producer Laura Ziskin arrives at the 2011
Producers Guild Awards in Beverly Hills, Calif.
The Entertainment Industry Foundation says
the acclaimed film producer and cancer activist
Ziskin died Sunday evening, June 12, 2011
at her home in Santa Monica, Calif. She was 61.
(AP Photo/Dan Steinberg, File)

She produced the three "Spider-Man" features and at the time of her death was working on a fourth, "The Amazing Spider-Man."

In the 1990s, Ziskin was president for five years of Fox 2000 Pictures, a subsidiary of 20th Century Fox that released more serious or quirky fare, including "Fight Club" and Terrence Malick's "The Thin Red Line," which was nominated for seven Academy Awards.

She also produced the Academy Awards telecasts in 2002 and 2007. She was the first woman to be solo producer of the show.

Diagnosed with breast cancer in 2004, Ziskin joined with other women in the entertainment industry and the media to form Stand Up to Cancer, a nonprofit organization that has raised some $200 million to fight the disease.

Born in the San Fernando Valley of Los Angeles, Ziskin studied filmmaking at the University of Southern California, wrote for game shows after graduating in 1973 and got her start in features as personal assistant to producer Jon Peters.

She is survived by her husband, screenwriter Alvin Sargent, and her daughter, Julia Barry.

Jerry Bruckheimer on Casting Johnny Depp for 'Pirates of the Caribbean' and How the Second Film Was Almost a 'Disaster'

Johnny Depp and producer Jerry Bruckheimer are shown April 1, 2011, in
Hollywood, Calif. (Eric Charbonneau/WireImage/Getty Images)

  Just weeks before the release of "Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides," mega-film producer Jerry Bruckheimer was still in the editing room of his Santa Monica, Calif., offices attending to details.

"We had a picture that was about 2 [hours], 35 [minutes]," he said. "So we had to shape it down to a length where we feel the story works, and so I think the picture runs 2 [hours], 7 [minutes], plus credits."

At the controls, visual effects editor Marty Kloner was compiling the film's most dazzling effects.

"We're taking the best ones and we're putting it together in a reel to show the Academy," Bruckheimer said, "to hopefully be considered for an Academy Award."

Always thinking ahead, Bruckheimer has supervised every element of the widely successful, four-part "Pirates of the Caribbean" film series that has so far raked in $2.7 billion at box offices worldwide. "On Stranger Tides" premieres on May 20.

It has been no secret that Bruckheimer believes Johnny Depp's appearance makes the "Pirates" series. He said casting Depp in the lead role as Capt. Jack Sparrow was one of his team's "great coups."

"Now who's going to see a movie about a theme park ride?" Bruckheimer said of "Pirates." "For me, the key linchpin to telling your audience this is special, this is different [is] if Johnny Depp wants to do this."

 Bruckheimer acknowledged that, at first, Disney executives were aghast at Depp's interpretation of Jack Sparrow, which he based on his kids' favorite cartoon -- Pepe le Pew. But, he said, they eventually came around. The Walt Disney company is the parent company of ABC News.


"When we cut a scene together and showed them how it was going to work, they got on board with it and it was understood what we're trying to do," he said.

Focused on keeping it creative and commercial, Bruckheimer has made some of the biggest blockbuster action movies to come out of Hollywood in the past 30 years: "Top Gun," "Con Air," "Black Hawk Down," "Armageddon" and "Pearl Harbor" are among them. He is also the producer for the long-running "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation" television series and the critically-acclaimed reality series, "The Amazing Race."
Bruckheimer explained that his job as the producer on a film is like being the general manager of a football team.

"I'm the one who has to oversee it all," he said.

With decades of experience under his belt, Bruckheimer said the thousands of little decisions that go into each film are what determines its success.

"There's so many other mistakes that you can make along the way, and I've been there," he said.
One of those mistakes happened with the second installment of the "Pirates" series. Bruckheimer recalled when the creative team gathered in his office after a catastrophic preview of "Dead Man's Chest."

"It was a disaster," he said. "The kids didn't like it. ... We were ready to slit our wrists. We got the liquor out. I'm telling you, we thought our careers were over."

The answer to saving the film, Bruckheimer said, was to un-complicate its ending, a common conclusion for Bruckheimer, who said he reads every film and TV script produced by his company, Jerry Bruckheimer Films.

"If an audience doesn't understand the character's motivation or a plot point, you've lost them because they get bored," he said.

Bruckheimer knows that the fate of his films lies with the audience, which he says is "never" wrong. While he said he can't control the Twitter-fueled world of rapid-fire responses, it doesn't keep him from being the event-movie master.

Disneyland in Los Angeles, Calif., shut down once again this week for the star-studded premiere of "Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stanger Tides" so that stars Johnny Depp and Penelope Cruz could walk the black carpet and special guests could have their pick of free rides.

"You want to send a message to the audience that the people who made the movie, who financed the movie, really believe in it -- and when they spend money on it, they believe in it," Bruckheimer said.

 

Film producer buys Studio City for $1.925M

Michael Charles Ohoven bought a five-bedroom, 5.5-bath home at 11247 Briarcliff Lane in Studio City from Allan C. Hochman for $1.925 million on March 10.



The 5,000-square-foot house was built in 1991.

Ohoven is a film producer and serves as the founder and CEO of Infinity Media. He formed Infinity Media in 2000. He learned financing and institutional investment at the prestigious Commerzbank and at the family's investment bank. He previously worked with the International Corporate Affairs division of RTL Television. He studied economics and business administration at one of Germany's leading universities.




His films have already been honored with five Academy Award nominations and one win. He is one of the youngest ever Oscar-nominated producers, and in 2006, The Hollywood Reporter named him one of Hollywood's "Most Prolific Producers."

According to BlockShopper.com, there have been 383 home sales in Studio City during the past 12 months, with a median sales price of $700,000.

Janet Jackson to Be Movie Producer

The 'Nasty' singer, who signed a production deal to develop big screen projects, said she has negotiated a contract with studio chiefs at Lionsgate to pick and produce a series of movies.

Photo credit: Dominic Chan/WENN

Pop superstar Janet Jackson is set to become a movie producer, the singer has signed a production deal to develop big screen projects. The "Nasty" hitmaker has spoken of her desire to concentrate on her acting career, but recently thrilled fans when she announced she would be hitting the road on her new "Number Ones: Up Close and Personal Tour" later in 2011.

However, Jackson isn't abandoning her film career, she has negotiated a contract with studio chiefs at Lionsgate to pick and produce a series of movies. She tells The Hollywood Reporter, "Many people forget I started out as an actor. I have been fortunate to work in the film industry, though not as much as I would like. I have a passion for storytelling, and have been doing it through my music for some time."

Jackson already has a longrunning relationship with bosses at Lionsgate, she has starred in the studio's Tyler Perry films "Why Did I Get Married?", "Why Did I Get Married Too?" and "For Colored Girls".

And Lionsgate president Mike Paseornek is adamant Jackson will make a success of the deal, adding, "She is a powerful onscreen presence, with a vast audience, and we believe she will be an equally powerful presence behind the scenes. We are honored to be able to provide a home for her ideas, passion and immense talent."

Film producer Walter Seltzer dies

Actor Charlton Heston feeds Edward G. Robinson in Soylent Green,
one of seven movies Heston made with producer Walter Seltzer, who died Friday. 

 

 

Walter Seltzer, a Hollywood producer who made seven films with Charlton Heston, has died. He was 96.
Seltzer died Friday at the Motion Picture and Television Fund's retirement home in Woodland Hills, said Jennifer Fagen, a spokeswoman for the fund.

Seltzer began his career as a publicity agent for actors such as Mickey Rooney, Clark Gable and Joan Crawford while working for MGM.

He became a producer with Marlon Brando's independent film company, making films such as the 1959 drama Shake Hands With the Devil with James Cagney and One-Eyed Jacks, a 1961 western starring Brando.

In 1965, he started working with Heston beginning with The War Lord and followed by the western Will Penny in 1968.

Their partnership also produced The Omega Man in 1971 and Soylent Green in 1973, both films touching on overpopulation, a subject that obsessed both Heston and Seltzer.

He was also known for his Oscar campaigns, including the 1955 movie Marty, a low-budget film that spent $400,000 on marketing, more than it cost to make.

"We offered to send a print of the picture, a projector and a projectionist to the home of anyone who would invite 20 academy members to a screening," Seltzer told the Associated Press in 2005.

Marty won four Academy Awards and was considered a sleeper hit.

Seltzer was born in Philadelphia on Nov. 7, 1914, the son of a pioneering film exhibitor. He worked as an usher before going into publicity and serving in the armed forces.

He retired from filmmaking by the late 1970s and became a fundraiser and board member of the Motion Picture and Television Fund, which cares for aging actors and runs the home where he died.

'Breaking Dawn' News: Producer Explains How They Plan to Tackle the Tough Issues

 

By Peter Martin

 "Vampires doing kicks." "Soft porn." "A crime against our audience." "Newlywed tension." Fear not, Twi-hards, your beloved movie franchise will not contain any of those potentially offensive elements, even as its final two chapters tackle the thorny issues of sexual intimacy, a bloody birth, and a director known for his musical numbers. Except for "newlywed tension": that will definitely be an important component of 'The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 1,' due out in theaters in November.

Producer Wyck Godfrey explained to USA Today that domestic issues will take precedence over the action in 'Breaking Part 1,' as Bella (Kristen Stewart) and Edward (Robert Pattinson) discover marriage "is not quite the experience that they thought it was," especially after enjoying a "romantic and sensual" -- but definitely not "soft porn"! -- honeymoon. The picture above, released a while back, is a "morning after" look at Bella's arm, which may give you an idea of the chaste tastefulness that will characterize the night when Bella loses more than her memory. But what of the product of their love?


When their love child bursts forth from Bella's body in a hail of blood, bones, and gooey stuff, it will all be seen from Bella's point of view, "looking through the haze" of a very painful experience, thus neatly side-stepping the more explicit descriptions in Stephenie Meyer's novel. The producer says "it would be a crime against our audience to go R-rated." This confirms what screenwriter Melissa Rosenberg said last summer. (For a more extensive weighing of the pros and cons of showing the bloody birth scene on the big screen, see this great article by our own Jessica Barnes -- and check out the passionate debate it sparked.)

The interview features other tidbits of information: where, exactly, the book will be split ("The first part will cover the wedding, the honeymoon and the birth. The film ends just before she embarks on her supernatural transformation"); how Jacob's section of the book will be handled in the films; why Bill Condon ('Dreamgirls') was selected to direct; and the possibility of a vampire "soft-shoe shuffle." If nothing else, it's clear that the filmmakers are united in their desire to honor the spirit of the book while maintaining the invaluable PG-13 rating. Whether they succeed or not will be entirely up to you.