Monday, December 17, 2007

Will Smith's 'I am Legend'

I am LegendWill Smith stars as Robert Neville [image copyright © 2007 Warner Bros. Pictures]

"I Am Legend", the sci-fi vampire drama about the last survivor of a planetwide plague opened with a record-breaking $76.5 million, the biggest December opening ever and a personal best for Smith. It could beat the $72.6 million debut of "The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King" in 2003, according to Warner Bros.' estimates.

For record, the film also stands out as the highest grossing film version of Richard Matheson's 1954 novel of the same name. The two earlier versions are 1964's 'The Last Man on Earth', and 1971's 'The Omega Man', starring Charlton Heston. "I am Legend" stars Will Smith as a military virologist believed to be the sole survivor of a human-made virus - a role originally created in the 1990s for Arnold Schwarzenegger, with Ridley Scott directing.

Will Smith had a perfect year of success. His last three movies were all of different genres — an action flick ("I am Legend"), a melodrama ("In Pursuit of Happyness" which was released in the same weekend last year) and a romantic comedy ("Hitch") — and all three went on to cruise well past $100 million with ease (well... 'Legend' will certainly cruise past that mark within a day or two).

The film is directed by Francis Lawrence and written by Akiva Goldsman and Mark Protosevich. The film is rated PG-13 for intense sequences of sci-fi action and violence.

Official Site: iamlegend.com.


Monday, December 03, 2007

Sundance 2008, January 17-27

Sundance LogoThe 2008 Sundance Film Festival runs January 17-27, 2008, in Park City, Salt Lake City, Ogden, and Sundance, Utah. There are 4 competition categories: (i) Documentary (ii) Dramatic (iii) World Cinema Documentary (iv) World Cinema Dramatic. In addition to the four Competition categories, the Festival presents films in five out-of-competition sections.

For the 2008 Sundance Film Festival, 121 feature-length films were selected including 87 world premieres, 14 North American premieres, and 12 U.S. premieres representing 25 countries with 55 first-time filmmakers, including 32 in competition. These films were selected from 3,624 feature film submissions composed of 2,021 U.S. and 1,603 international feature-length films. These numbers represent an increase from last year when 1,852 U.S. and 1,435 international feature-length films were considered.

In 'Dramatic' category, this year’s 16 films were selected from 1,068 submissions. Each film is a world premiere: AMERICAN SON (Director: Neil Abramson; Screenwriter: Eric Schmid), ANYWHERE, U.S.A. (Director: Chusy Haney-Jardine; Screenwriters: Chusy Haney-Jardine, Jennifer Macdonald), BALLAST (Director and Screenwriter: Lance Hammer), CHOKE (Director and Screenwriter: Clark Gregg), DOWNLOADING NANCY (Director: Johan Renck; Screenwriters: Pamela Cuming, Lee Ross), FROZEN RIVER (Director and Screenwriter: Courtney Hunt), GOOD DICK (Director and Screenwriter: Marianna Palka), THE LAST WORD (Director and Screenwriter: Geoff Haley), THE MYSTERIES OF PITTSBURGH (Director and Screenwriter: Rawson Marshall Thurber), NORTH STARR (Director and Screenwriter: Matthew Stanton), PHOEBE IN WONDERLAND (Director and Screenwriter: Daniel Barnz), PRETTY BIRD (Director and Screenwriter: Paul Schneider), SLEEP DEALER (Director: Alex Rivera; Screenwriters: Alex Rivera, David Riker), SUGAR (Directors and Screenwriters: Anna Boden, Ryan Fleck), SUNSHINE CLEANING (Director: Christine Jeffs; Screenwriter: Megan Holley), THE WACKNESS (Director and Screenwriter: Jonathan Levine).

In 'World Cinema Dramatic' category, this year’s 16 selections are from 983 submissions and represent 17 countries: ABSURDISTAN/ Germany/Azerbaijan (Director: Veit Helmer; Screenwriters: Veit Helmer, Zaza Buadze, Gordan Mihic, Ahmet Golbol), BLUE EYELIDS (PÁRPADOS AZULES)/ Mexico (Director: Ernesto Contreras; Screenwriter: Carlos Contreras), CAPTAIN ABU RAED/ Jordan (Director and Screenwriter: Amin Matalqa), THE DRUMMER (JIN. GWU)/ Hong Kong/ Taiwan/ Germany (Director and Screenwriter: Kenneth Bi), I ALWAYS WANTED TO BE A GANGSTER (J'AI TOUJOURS RÊVÉ D'ÊTRE UN GANGSTER)/ France (Director and Screenwriter: Samuel Benchetrit), JUST ANOTHER LOVE STORY (KÆRLIGHED PÅ FILM)/ Denmark (Director and Screenwriter: Ole Bornedal), KING OF PING PONG (PING PONGKINGEN)/ Sweden (Director: Jens Jonsson; Screenwriters: Jens Jonsson, Hans Gunnarson), MÁNCORA/ Spain/Peru (Director: Ricardo de Montreuil; Screenwriter: Oscar Torres), MEGANE (GLASSES)/ Japan (Director and Screenwriter: Naoko Ogigami), MERMAID (RUSALKA)/ Russia (Director and Screenwriter: Anna Melikyan), PERRO COME PERRO (DOG EAT DOG)/ Colombia (Director: Carlos Moreno; Screenwriters: Alonso Torres, Carlos Moreno), RIPRENDIMI (GOOD MORNING HEARTACHE)/ Italy (Director: Anna Negri; Screenwriters: Anna Negri, Giovanna Mori), STRANGERS/ Israel (Directors and Screenwriters: Erez Tadmor, Guy Nattiv), UNDER THE BOMBS (SOUS LES BOMBES)/ Lebanon (Director: Philippe Aractingi; Screenwriters: Philippe Aractingi,Michel Léviant), THE WAVE (DIE WELLE)/ Germany (Director: Dennis Gansel; Screenwriters: Dennis Gansel and Peter Thorwarth), THE WIND AND THE WATER (BURWA DII EBO)/ Panama (Directors and Screenwriters: A collective collaboration).

The Opening Night Film for the festival would be the world premiere of IN BRUGES, written and directed by first-time feature filmmaker and award-winning playwright, Martin McDonagh. With an international cast starring Academy Award-nominee Ralph Fiennes, Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson, IN BRUGES tells the suspenseful, twisted tale of two London hit men ordered to take a forced vacation in Bruges, Belgium, and how their subsequent time in exile goes awry.

For details, visit www.sundance.org/festival