Category Archives: Film

Studio defends Barbie movie after controversial map prompts Vietnam ban

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Warner Bros says map is ‘child-like’ after Vietnam accused film-makers of depicting China’s nine-dash line in South China Sea

Warners Bros has described a map that appears in its coming Barbie movie as a “child-like crayon drawing” with no intended meaning, after Vietnam said it would ban the film after claiming the map depicted the disputed South China Sea.

The Barbie movie provoked controversy in both Vietnam and the Philippines over its inclusion of the map that apparently features China’s “nine-dash line”. The line marks China’s claim to much of the South China Sea – a demarcation opposed by Vietnam and other south-east Asian countries and which was repudiated by an international tribunal in The Hague in 2016.

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Daniel Kaluuya’s Barney the Dinosaur film to be ‘adult’ and ‘lean into millennial angst’

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Mattel says the Barney movie will be inspired by Charlie Kaufman, while Barbie director Greta Gerwig is planning two Narnia movies for Netflix

The Daniel Kaluuya-produced movie featuring Barney the Dinosaur will be an “adult”, “surrealistic” and “A24-type” film inspired by Charlie Kaufman and Spike Jonze, it has been revealed.

In a wide-ranging report on the film-making plans of toymaker Mattel in the New Yorker, Mattel Films executive Kevin McKeon said of the project: “We’re leaning into the millennial angst of the property rather than fine-tuning this for kids. It’s really a play for adults. Not that it’s R-rated, but it’ll focus on some of the trials and tribulations of being thirtysomething, growing up with Barney – just the level of disenchantment within the generation.”

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Robert De Niro’s grandson Leandro De Niro Rodriguez dies aged 19

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Actor’s eldest daughter, Drena, makes announcement on Instagram but family has not released details about cause of death

Leandro De Niro Rodriguez, the grandson of actor Robert De Niro, has died at the age of 19, family members announced on Monday.

De Niro’s eldest daughter, Drena, posted on Instagram to say her son had died. She said the family had lost a “sweet angel”.

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Vietnam bans Barbie film over disputed map of China’s South China Sea claims

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Scene shows map of China’s controversial ‘nine-dash line’ – repudiated in international ruling

Vietnam has banned Warner Bros’s Barbie film from domestic distribution over a scene featuring a map that shows China’s unilaterally claimed territory in the South China Sea, state media have reported.

The U-shaped “nine-dash line” is used on Chinese maps to illustrate its claims over vast areas of the South China Sea, including swathes of what Vietnam considers its continental shelf, where it has awarded oil concessions.

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US actors union agrees to extend talks as A-list stars show they are ready to strike

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Meryl Streep, Jennifer Lawrence and others lend their names to demand a strong deal as writers’ strike enters third month

The US actors’ union and Hollywood studios announced in a statement on Friday that the two sides had agreed to extend their current labor deal through 12 July, hours before a midnight deadline.

“The parties will continue to negotiate under a mutually agreed upon media blackout,” the parties said.

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Idris Elba: racist backlash made speculation over James Bond ‘disgusting’

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Star of The Wire and Luther says playing 007 would be the pinnacle of an actor’s career, but the discussion became ‘off-putting’

Idris Elba has said that the racist backlash to the prospect of him being cast as James Bond “made the whole thing disgusting and off-putting”.

Elba was speaking on the SmartLess podcast about the continued speculation linking him to the role, saying: “I was super complimented for a long time about this. We’re all actors and we understand that role is one of those coveted [roles] … Being asked to be James Bond [would be] like: ‘OK, you’ve sort of reached the pinnacle’. That’s one of those things the whole world has a vote in.”

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I routinely gave Netanyahu gifts, Hollywood producer tells Israeli court

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Arnon Milchan begins testimony via video link in Israeli prime minister’s corruption trial

An Israeli producer of blockbuster Hollywood films has taken the stand in Benjamin Netanyahu’s corruption trial, describing how he routinely delivered tens of thousands of dollars worth of champagne, cigars and other gifts requested by the Israeli prime minister.

Arnon Milchan, who appeared by video-conference from the UK city of Brighton, near where he is based, is a key witness whose testimony is essential for prosecutors who are trying to prove that Netanyahu committed fraud and breach of trust in one of three cases brought against him.

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Julian Sands: body found in California mountains where actor disappeared

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Human remains discovered near Mount Baldy and transported to coroner’s office for identification

Hikers have found human remains in a southern California mountain area where the British actor Julian Sands disappeared five months ago, authorities said.

The body was discovered at about 10am on Saturday in wilderness near Mount Baldy in the San Gabriel mountains and was transported to the coroner’s office for identification next week, the San Bernardino county sheriff’s department said in a statement.

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Apple TV+ remake of sci-fi classic Metropolis cancelled due to US writers’ strike

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The $188m eight-part series was to be filmed in Melbourne but has been shelved because of ‘push costs and uncertainty’

The $188m Apple TV+ remake of Fritz Lang’s 1927 sci-fi classic Metropolis has been cancelled.

The major project was in pre-production in Melbourne when NBCUniversal’s Universal Studio Group announced the eight-part series would not go ahead.

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Flamin’ not? Critics say popular snack founding myth is a hoax

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White House denies cover-up, but critics say Eva Longoria-helmed Cheetos docu-drama distorts the true story of the spicy snack

When Joe Biden welcomed actor-director Eva Longoria to the White House for a screening of her Flamin’ Hot drama-documentary last week, the president hailed the story of the Mexican-American one-time janitor Richard Montañez as a tale of “courage”.

“When I think about tonight’s movie, I think about courage. So many of you, your ancestors left behind all that they knew to start a new life in the United States,” Biden told the crowd, before the president gave the Desperate Housewives star a hug and made an incomprehensible joke about when she was 17 and he was 40.

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UK government to invest in film and TV AI special-effects research

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Almost £150m to be spent on research labs to help future-proof industry and lift creative economy

Ministers are seeking to future-proof the UK’s multibillion-pound film and TV production industry by investing almost £150m in a network of research labs across the country tasked with developing the next generation of special effects using tech such as artificial intelligence.

The scheme aims to build on Britain’s reputation for producing hi-tech hits from Star Wars to Harry Potter, and is part of wide-ranging plans to drive the UK creative economy. The government has earmarked millions to support grassroots music venues hammered by the Covid pandemic, and is tripling a fund designed to find and support the next generation of homegrown superstars like Adele and Ed Sheeran.

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Wes Anderson says Bill Murray misconduct allegations won’t affect their working relationship

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Director, who has worked with Murray on nine of his 11 films, says it was Covid-19, not misconduct allegations, that stopped the actor appearing in his latest film Asteroid City

Wes Anderson has said that various allegations made against his frequent collaborator Bill Murray will not affect their working relationship, describing him as “part of my family”.

The 54-year-old director, known for using the same actors across his films, spoke before the release of his latest, Asteroid City, which is one of only two of his 11 released feature films that Murray has not appeared in.

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Harvey Weinstein tried to bully me, reveals Joseph Fiennes

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The Handmaid’s Tale actor says the disgraced movie mogul threatened to end his Hollywood career

Joseph Fiennes, star of the television series The Handmaid’s Tale and of the 1998 hit movie, Shakespeare in Love, has explained why he turned down the chance to play major roles in a run of Hollywood blockbusters early in his career.

It was, he said, a reaction to bullying pressure put on him by Harvey Weinstein, who wanted to take control of his life, and Fiennes does not regret the decision.

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Disney’s Little Mermaid flops in China amid racist backlash over casting

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Poor box office performance reflects broader challenge for Hollywood as it vies with domestic productions

The poor performance of Disney’s The Little Mermaid at the Chinese box office has reopened questions on Hollywood’s increasing difficulties in the world’s second-largest economy and the role racism has played in the film’s reception.

The live action remake has grossed just $3.6m (£2.9m) since its release in Chinese cinemas on 26 May, according to Box Office Mojo.

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‘Forget all the excuses’: Arnold Schwarzenegger expresses regret over groping claims

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In the forthcoming documentary Arnold, the actor says of the historical allegations that ‘it doesn’t really matter what time it is … it was wrong’

Arnold Schwarzenegger has revisited historical allegations of groping in a new documentary series about his life and career.

In 2003, shortly before his re-election as governor of California, the Los Angeles Times published a report detailing claims of groping by six women across three decades.

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Hollywood actors union overwhelmingly votes to strike if talks fail with studios

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Sag-Aftra president Fran Drescher tells more than 60,000 union members she is proud of them

Actors represented by the Hollywood union Sag-Aftra have overwhelmingly voted to strike if they don’t agree on a new contract with major studios, streamers and production companies by 30 June.

On Monday 65,000 members of the guild, which represents more than 160,000 screen actors, broadcast journalists, announcers, hosts and stunt performers, voted, with 98% supporting a strike if negotiations with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) fail.

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Studio Ghibli to release Hayao Miyazaki’s final film with no trailers or promotion

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The director and veteran of Studio Ghibli plans to retire after the release of How Do You Live? which will forgo trailers and marketing ahead of its Japanese release next month

Hayao Miyazaki’s next and apparently final film will be released with no trailer, marketing or other new promotional materials, it has been revealed.

In an interview with Japanese magazine Bungei Shunju, translated by the Hollywood Reporter, producer Toshio Suzuki said the film, titled How Do You Live?, would be released with “no trailers or TV commercials at all … no newspaper ads either.” He added: “Deep down, I think this is what moviegoers latently desire.”

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Barbie film required so much pink paint it contributed to worldwide shortage

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The film’s production designer Sarah Greenwood says ‘the world ran out of pink’ during construction of Barbieland and lifesize versions of the doll’s Dreamhouse

Greta Gerwig’s upcoming Barbie film required so much pink paint during construction that it wiped out an entire company’s global supply.

Speaking to Architectural Digest, Gerwig and the film’s production designer Sarah Greenwood, spoke about the construction of Barbieland, which is almost entirely fluorescent pink, from the lifesize versions of the doll’s famous “Dreamhouse” to the roads and lamp-posts.

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Makers of Lightyear flop among Pixar job cuts by Disney

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Director and producer of Toy Story spinoff lose roles after $200m production brought in just $226.7m in global ticket sales

Walt Disney’s Pixar Animation Studios has eliminated 75 positions including those of two executives behind the box office disappointment Lightyear, sources said on Saturday, the first significant job cuts at the studio in a decade.

The cuts included Lightyear director Angus MacLane, a 26-year Pixar veteran who was part of the senior creative team on such acclaimed films as Toy Story 4 and Coco. Galyn Susman, producer of Lightyear, also departed. Susman had been at Pixar since the release of the original Toy Story movie in 1995.

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The Little Mermaid hooks audiences with whale of an opening weekend

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The live-action remake brought in nearly $100m over the Memorial Day weekend, knocking Fast X out of the top spot

The Little Mermaid live-action remake of Disney’s 1989 animated classic made a splash at the box office on Memorial Day weekend, bringing in almost $100m in North America, according to studio estimates released on Sunday.

The film starring Halle Bailey, winning praise from critics as the titular mermaid Ariel, and Melissa McCarthy as her sea witch nemesis, Ursula, ranks as the fifth biggest Memorial Day weekend opening on record.

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