Randy Quaid drops "Brokeback Mountain" lawsuit (Reuters)
May 4, 2006
Reuters - Actor Randy Quaid has dropped his
$10 million lawsuit against the makers of Brokeback Mountain,
saying they agreed to pay him more money, but the studio said
on Thursday it knew of no deal.
"Mission" set to kick box office into high gear (Reuters)
May 4, 2006
Reuters - "Mission: Impossible
III," the third installment of Paramount's highest-grossing
franchise, will get an early start to the weekend by opening
across North America at midnight Thursday.
Japanese horror producer signs deal with Fox (Reuters)
May 4, 2006Reuters - Japanese horror film producer Taka Ichise has signed a three-year production deal with 20th Century Fox, his first pact with a Hollywood studio.
'Sopranos' Star Takes a Spill From Scooter (AP)
May 4, 2006
AP - "Sopranos" actor James Gandolfini took a tumble after his motor scooter collided with a taxi, but was said to be unhurt.
J.J. Abrams Finds the Big Screen (AP)
May 4, 2006
AP - "Alias" began with Jennifer Garner's head in a toilet; "Lost" opened on a crash-strewn beach; and "Mission: Impossible III" starts with Philip Seymour Hoffman demanding from a captive Tom Cruise the location of "the rabbit's foot."
Vince Vaughn Sort of Talks About Aniston (AP)
May 4, 2006
AP - Though Vince Vaughn and Jennifer Aniston have been mum about their romantic relationship, they aren't fooling David Letterman.
Richards No Longer Friends With Locklear (AP)
May 4, 2006AP - Denise Richards, who is seeking a divorce from Charlie Sheen, says she is no longer friends with Heather Locklear, in the next issue of People magazine.
US film "Blood of my Brother" shows Iraqi tragedy (Reuters)
May 4, 2006Reuters - As Iraq sinks into sectarian fighting, a documentary by a U.S. director who spent six months in Baghdad in 2004 explores the roots of Iraq's violence and why so many young men there are drawn to take up arms.
New film shows drama of Golden Gate Bridge suicides (Reuters)
May 4, 2006Reuters - Every few weeks, someone climbs over the railing of San Francisco's famed Golden Gate Bridge and jumps to their death at one of the highest-profile suicide sites in the world.
Randy Quaid Drops 'Brokeback' Lawsuit (AP)
May 4, 2006AP - "Brokeback Mountain" co-star Randy Quaid has dropped a lawsuit over his compensation for the Academy Award-winning film.
French Movie Depicts Forgotten Soldiers (AP)
May 4, 2006AP - A handful of Allied troops stare at the barrels of advancing Nazi tanks, hurling grenades that bounce harmlessly off the vehicles' armored skin. The Germans aim squarely at the Allied hideout and fire.
'American Haunting' Based on Witch Legend (AP)
May 4, 2006AP - She had a bucket of pig's blood dumped over her head in "Carrie," was locked away in an insane asylum in "The Ring Two" and watched helplessly as a ghost dragged her daughter by her hair in the new movie "An American Haunting."
Film "Jesus Camp" focuses on US evangelical youth (Reuters)
May 4, 2006Reuters - Becky Fischer, who runs an evangelical summer camp where children as young as six are encouraged to "take back America for Christ," says indoctrinating children is not only right but essential.
"TV Set" offers inside look at pilot madness (Reuters)
May 4, 2006Reuters - Jake Kasdan's precisely observed portrait of the television pilot process registers with an insider's perspective and should be of keen interest to those working in the industry. Whether outsiders will find much to appreciate in "The TV Set" is another question because the film fails to provide the thematic resonance of similarly themed predecessors like the brilliant "Network."
At the Movies: `Down in the Valley' (AP)
May 4, 2006AP - "Down in the Valley" begins with a sprinkling of ideas and images you'd expect to see in a traditional Western — then slowly, subtly, right before your eyes, it literally becomes a Western.
Star salaries coming down in Hollywood? (Reuters)
May 4, 2006
Reuters - Poor Jim Carrey. His movies have
raked in nearly $2 billion at box offices, but now a leading
entertainment magazine says the comedian's asking price of $25
million a film has become "a bit of a gamble."
English Catholic group opposes Da Vinci film boycott (Reuters)
May 4, 2006
Reuters - A group of prominent English Roman
Catholics is opposing a Vatican call to boycott the film "The
Da Vinci Code," saying the movie's release is not a threat but
a chance to explain their faith, their spokesman said on
Thursday.
"Art School" offers movie antidote for "M:i III" (Reuters)
May 4, 2006Reuters - Take heart, art house movie fans: Big bad Tom Cruise and his Hollywood thriller "Mission: Impossible III" is not the only film in theaters on Friday.
Oscar director seeking crouching talent, hidden writers (Reuters)
May 4, 2006Reuters - Oscar-winning director Ang Lee on Thursday called for greater emphasis on nurturing Chinese-language screen writers, saying a dearth of quality scripts meant the massive market was yet to be properly developed.
A gripping thriller explores post-9/11 paranoia (Reuters)
May 4, 2006
Reuters - A compelling psychological
thriller that well taps into our current national paranoia
about terrorism, "Civic Duty" offers a powerful performance by
Peter Krause as a man who becomes obsessed with his suspicious
Islamic neighbor.
Blu-ray discs delayed by a month (Reuters)
May 4, 2006
Reuters - While high-definition
DVD titles trickle into stores, the arrival of the first titles
in the rival Blu-ray Disc format has been pushed back by a
month until June 20.
Hard to give a "Hoot" about this family film (Reuters)
May 4, 2006Reuters - Carl Hiaasen's environmentally minded young people's best-seller about burrowing owls whose Florida home is being turned into a construction site makes its big-screen transition as a blandly generic family film.
TV movie on September 11 flight hits video (Reuters)
May 4, 2006Reuters - While "United 93" surprised skeptics at the box office last weekend, cable channel A&E's movie about the same doomed September 11 flight has just been released on DVD.
Back in "Flux" - Theron bomb tops DVD charts (Reuters)
May 4, 2006
Reuters - "Aeon Flux," the box
office bomb starring Charlize Theron as a superhero, stormed to
the top of the latest DVD sales and rental charts.
May box office buzz strong, tracking firm says (Reuters)
May 4, 2006
Reuters - For those concerned that
the summer's blockbuster season will be more fizzle than
sizzle, much like last year's, rest at ease: May's kickoff will
begin the season with a bang.
Short "Flight" to precede "Hedge" screenings (Reuters)
May 4, 2006Reuters - A tiny bird will hop onto silver screens before DreamWorks Animation's upcoming computer-animated comedy "Over the Hedge."
Videogame firm Activision snags license to thrill (Reuters)
May 4, 2006Reuters - Activision Inc. has secured the rights to make interactive entertainment games based on the James Bond license, taking over from Electronic Arts, whose deal was scheduled to run until 2009.
Voices roam for "Wild Things" (Reuters)
May 4, 2006
Reuters - Benicio Del Toro,
Catherine O'Hara, Forest Whitaker and Michelle Williams are
among the actors recruited to voice characters in
writer-director Spike Jonze's adaptation of Maurice Sendak's
children's book "Where the Wild Things Are."
Sonnenfeld eyeing trip to "Meadow" (Reuters)
May 4, 2006Reuters - Barry Sonnenfeld, director of current box office champ "RV," is in final negotiations to shoot "Andrew Henry's Meadow," a coming-of-age story based on Doris Burn's classic children's book.
Zeta-Jones conjuring Houdini role (Reuters)
May 4, 2006
Reuters - Catherine Zeta-Jones is
in negotiations to star opposite Guy Pearce in "Death Defying
Acts," an indie movie about Harry Houdini.
Paramount wins "After Hailey" war (Reuters)
May 4, 2006Reuters - Paramount Pictures has acquired Jonathan Tropper's unpublished book "After Hailey" after a heated bidding war involving four studios.
Original "Star Wars" films finally due on DVD (Reuters)
May 4, 2006
Reuters - The original theatrical
versions of the first three "Star Wars" films are finally
coming to DVD on September 12, two years after diehard fans
blasted George Lucas for releasing only the digitally modified
2004 versions of the celebrated trilogy in a boxed collection.