Category: Movie

Garfield Is Getting A New Movie For Theaters

On By Noah Furcht-HeafitzIn Brand, China, MovieLeave a comment
https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/chris-pratt-garfield-animated-feature-1235039314/, Mia Galuppo

Garfield is coming back to the silver screen courtesy of Alcon Entertainment which is helmed by Andrew Kosove and Broderick Johnson. This film is set to be released worldwide with the notable exception of China by Sony pictures. The script was penned by David Reynolds the Oscar-nominated writer behind the Pixar classic Finding Nemo. The film is being directed by Mark Dindal who has previously directed the Disney film Chicken Little. These two creatives have also notably worked alongside each other in the past on the Disney film The Emperor’s New Groove.

Garfield is an orange tabby cat owned by John Arbuckle and who shares his home with a dog named Odie. Garfield is characterized as being lazy and mischievous. Garfield was created by Jim Davis and made his debut as a comic character in 41 newspapers in 1978. Since then the comic that bears his name has become the most widely syndicated comic in the world.

Alcon acquired the rights to the Garfield intellectual property from Jim Davis to make this project possible. Davis will serve as an executive producer alongside Bridget McMeel and Craig Sost. The film will be produced by John Cohen, Steven P. Wegner, Kosove, and Johnson. The Animation studio DNEG Animation who recently worked on the film Ron’s Gone Wrong will produce and animate this film.

The producers of this film will be DNEG CEO Namit Malhotra and president Tom Jacomb. Garfield has made his way onto the big screen twice before. The features in question are 2004’s “Garfield” and 2006’s “Garfield: A Tail of Two Kitties” both of which are live-action animated hybrid films. These films were both, one, produced by 20th Century Fox and two, included Bill Murray as the voice of the titular cat.

Voicing Garfield this time around is Chris Pratt. Chris Pratt has become well known for his voice acting in recent years being prominently featured in the Lego Movie franchise, Pixar’s Onward, and the yet to be released Super Mario Bros. animated film from Nintendo and Universal.

This article interests me for four main reasons. For one, I’m very interested in the Animation studio DNGE. This because this will only be their second major project. As of now DNGE is most notable for having risen into the spotlight after the closure of the prolific American animation house Blue Sky Studios. Secondly, I’m interested to see how the film in question will go about expanding the Garfield brand. Garfield has had something of a renaissance in recently spawning an online horror based fan community and even being set to appear in the recently released fighting game Nickelodeon Allstars. Thirdly , this article interests me because I’m interested in the cultural ramifications of having Chris Pratt play 2 of the most well known characters of all time in Mario and Garfield. Lastly, It’s just mentioned in passing, but i’m very curious what aspect of this presumably family friendly film has made the creators decide not to release it in China.

Galuppo, Mia. “Chris Pratt to Voice Garfield in New Animated Feature (Exclusive).” The Hollywood Reporter, The Hollywood Reporter, 2 Nov. 2021, https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/chris-pratt-garfield-animated-feature-1235039314/.

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Squid Game is Netflix’s Most Popular Series

On By emmaspaethIn Movie, NetflixLeave a comment

Photo via The New York Times

The popular Netflix series “Squid Game” has become their biggest title ever released. The South Korean show about indebted people participating in a deadly content for a cash prize, reached 111 million global views within the first 17 days of release. According to figures estimated by Bloomberg, Hwang Dong-Hyuk’s thriller will generate almost $900 million for the company. “Squid Game” reached the number one position on Netflix in 94 countries.

Compared to other original series produced on Netflix, “Squid Game” was relatively cheep to produce. Each episode cost roughly $2.4 million to produce, a total of $21.4 for the whole series according to Netflix’s performance metrics for the series. The document illustrated how successful the international series has been for Netflix as one of the most popular show ever.

With the success of many of its foreign films, Netflix has invested efforts in translating and dubbing foreign language films for international consumption. “Squid Game” further opens the door for international film production as more American’s consume foreign films and television. Netflix saves millions of dollars and avoids strict union regulations by filming internationally and hiring local talent and production crews.

Hollywood’s Behind-The-Scenes Staff reach Tentative Deal with Studios, adverting strike scheduled for Monday

On By alanapotIn Cable, Media Covergence, Movie, Netflix, Regulation, TelevisionLeave a comment
IATSE President Matthew D. Loeb, Image via AdWeek/IASTE

IATSE, the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees, recently came to a tentative agreement with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP), adverting a scheduled strike for this upcoming October 18th. IATSE is a union representing about 60,000 crew members including hairstylists, costumers, gaffers, propmakers, cameraworkers and other behind-the-scenes jobs on set. The union had been negotiating pay, work schedules and more with AMPTP, an organization that represents companies such as Netflix, Warner Bros, Universal Pictures and Paramount Pictures, since May.

Prior to the tentative agreement, IATSE President Matthew Loeb said in a statement posted on Twitter: “We will continue bargaining with the producers this week in the hopes of reaching an agreement that addresses core issues, such as reasonable rest periods, meal breaks and a living wage for those on the bottom of the wage scale” 

If the strike had occurred it would’ve been the first time Hollywood’s Behind-The-Scenes workers had held a strike since World War II and would represent the largest cease Hollywood’s workforce since a 14-week writers’ strike in 2007.

According to IATSE, the 3-Year contractual agreement with AMPTP includes living wages for the lowest paid workers, higher wages, daily 10 hour rest periods and weekend 54 hour long rest periods along with other basic benefits. Prior to this, streaming TV and film productions featured lower pay scales for workers which reflected budgets at the beginning of the medium and platforms. However, streaming is now a very large chunk of the market and worker’s felt their wages should reflect that. The increased production and volume of streaming entertainment had also made for grueling, “around-the-clock” and “around-the-calendar” (Sutton, 2021) working conditions.

Overall, this situation between IATSE and AMPTP reflect the truth behind what is going on behind the scenes of the public’s favorite shows and streaming platforms. It also reflects streaming as medium that is here to stay and in need of regulation for it’s workers.

Del Barco, Mandalit. “Hollywood crew members reach a tentative deal with major studios, averting a strike” NPR, 16, October, 2021. https://www.npr.org/2021/10/16/1045711954/hollywood-crew-members-iatse-reach-deal-no-strike

Sutton, Kelsey. “TV, Film Workers Set Oct. 18 Strike Date as Negotiations With Studios Stall” AdWeek, 14, October, 2021. https://www.adweek.com/convergent-tv/tv-film-workers-set-oct-18-strike-date-as-negotiations-with-studios-stall/

The Backlash to the Upcoming Mario Film’s Cast Announcement

On By Noah Furcht-HeafitzIn Movie, Video GameLeave a comment

Cydney Contreras, https://www.nbcphiladelphia.com/entertainment/entertainment-news/chris-pratt-cast-super-mario-bros-movie-announced/2970163/

Star of 1993’s cult classic loose adaptation of the Super Mario Brothers property John Leguizamo recently expressed disapproval for the upcoming animated Super Mario Brothers film (Dick, 2021). The film in question is slated for release on December 21st of 2022. Leguizamo’s disapproval comes as a result of the notable absence of Latinx lead actors in the recently revealed voice acting lineup. The cast includes: Chris Prat as Mario, Charlie Day as Luigi, Anya Taylor-Joy as Peach, Jack Black as Bowser, Keegan-Michael Key as Toad, Seth Rogen as Donkey Kong, Kevin Michael Richardson as Kamek, Fred Armisen as Cranky Kong, and Sebastian Maniscalco as Spike. Veteran Mario voice actor Charles Martinet will also be in the film as unspecified cameos. About this matter, the former Luigi actor posted a tweet stating:

“So glad #superMariobros is getting a reboot!” Leguizamo says in the tweet. “Obviously it’s iconic enuff. But too bad they went all white! No Latinx in the leads! Groundbreaking color-blind casting in original! Plus I’m the only one who knows how to make this movie work script wise!”

The 1993 Mario Film was directed by Rocky Morton and Annabel Jenkle. The film was written by Parker Bennett, Tery Runte, and Ed Solomon. Bob Hoskins played Mario in this adaptation, Dennis Hopper played King Koopa, Samantha Mathis Played Princess Daisy, and Frank Welker played Yoshi.

Chris Prat made a point of noting just how excited he is to play Mario stating “dreams really do come true” on Instagram. Prat then recounted a time during his youth when he used to steal coins from a wishing well and use them to play Mario. This was followed by Prat’s stating:

“It just dawned on me right now. The quarter I stole out of the wishing well to play Super Mario Bros. has come true, that I get to be the voice of Mario. But, I clearly stole someone else’s wish, so, just waiting for that row of karma dominoes to come crashing down on me.”

I’m interested in the upcoming Mario film for the reason that the Mario intellectual property represents the best selling video game franchise of all time. Mario had approximately 620 million copies of his various games around the world as of January of 2020 (Adler, 2020). With this being the case I feel as though it is undeniable that this film will have a major cultural impact. Regarding the casting choices, while i’m not fond of the fact that the leads aren’t being played by Latinx people I am a big fan of all of the actors that have been chosen outside of that fact.

Adler, Matthew. “How Mario Outsells Every Other Game Franchise.” IGN, IGN, 14 Jan. 2020, https://www.ign.com/articles/2019/11/15/mario-sales-competition-infographic.

Dick, Jeremy. “John Leguizamo BLASTS ‘Super Mario BROS.’ Animated Movie Cast for Lack of Diversity.” Movieweb, Movieweb, 28 Sept. 2021, https://movieweb.com/john-leguizamo-super-mario-bros-reboot-voice-cast-lack-of-diversity/.

‘No Time to Die’ Delayed Due to Coronavirus Outbreak.

On By Jared RohlfingIn China, MovieLeave a comment

‘No Time to Die’’, the latest installment in the highly lucrative James Bond film franchise, has been delayed until November of 2020 due to the global coronavirus outbreak.  Originally set to be released in April of this year, MGM reportedly further delayed the film due to the potential risk of box office failure in conjunction with keeping moviegoers safe from increased exposure to the novel virus.  In his article for CNN, Frank Pallotta argues that while this is the first major film studio to delay one of their features due to the outbreak, it will most likely not be the last.  While most major studios currently are maintaining their films slated release dates, this could obviously be subject to change if the pandemic is not contained on a much broader scale in the coming weeks and months.  While movie chains remain open across the United States, theaters in much of Asia, specifically in China, which is the second largest market for movies in the world, have closed down in order to contain the outbreak.  Upcoming films such as the latest installment in the ‘Fast and the Furious’ franchise and ‘Top Gun: Maverick’ are highly reliant on international box office success and their release dates will likely be altered as well if sweeping containment of the virus is not successful on a global scale.  

The global containment efforts to contain this outbreak, the likes of which have not been seen in modern times, obviously have huge implications for the entertainment industry.  It will be interesting to see in the coming weeks if the disease is managed enough to where restrictions can be lifted or if other major film releases will be forced to be delayed as well.  Another aspect of these delays that remains to be seen is if these movies projected box office numbers will remain consistent with their altered release dates or if they will suffer financial loses ultimately.

https://www.cnn.com/2020/03/06/media/coronavirus-james-bond-box-office/index.html

Being ‘Visible’ in the Media Has a Deeper Meaning for LGBTQ+ Individuals and Here’s Why:

On By Kirsten BeachIn Diversity, LGBTQ+, Movie, Netflix, News Media, UncategorizedLeave a comment

Within the past decade, we have seen tremendous progress being made to accurately represent LGBTQ+ individuals in the media, but even with that progress, we still have a ways to go until representation is equal across the board.

It is evident that social media has played a huge role in the increased acceptance and representation of the LGBTQ+ community–with trans and nonbinary representation in media and fashion growing tremendously (as evidenced by the success of breakout hits such as “Drag Race” HBO’s “Euphoria,” and Netflix’s “Pose”). In saying that though, things have not always been this way. Even just 15 years ago, LGBTQ+ individuals were very much ‘invisible’ in terms of media representation–with only a few accounts of gay and lesbian characters being depicted (often times not even in accurate ways.)

However, to further shed light on this evolution of LGBTQ+ depictions on television, comedian Wanda Sykes and actor Wilson Cruz executively produced a 5-part docuseries called ‘Visible: Out on Television’ that will launch on February 14th on Apple TV Plus. Sykes and Cruz said that they created this series to act as a testament to how LGBTQ people and their allies harnessed TV to tell the community’s stories.

Best known for his roles as ‘Dennis’ in 13 Reasons Why and Dr. Hugh Culber in Star Trek: Discovery, Cruz said, “It’s through television that we got to tell the entire society and our own culture what our lives are really like. Because of that amount of authenticity, we were able to move the needle to acceptance.” With that being said, visibility in the media has a much deeper meaning for those who are apart of the LGBTQ+ community, and we as a society should push to make sure their representation (along with other marginalized groups) continues to be made apparent in the media.

 

Sources: https://www.nbcnews.com/feature/nbc-out/out-television-tracks-evolution-lgbtq-portrayals-n1119401

https://www.nbcnews.com/think/opinion/decade-lgbtq-pop-culture-visibility-stalled-political-progress-ncna1108786

Game of Streams – ViacomCBS

On By Chris ColeIn Distribution, Movie, Political, Sports, Streaming, Technology, TelevisionLeave a comment

Viacom and CBS Corp. are officially joining forces after 14 years since their split. Viacom and CBS first merged in 1999 and split in 2005. Since the two merged, ViacomCBS is now a massive media empire with a collection of cable channels, broadcast networks, and film and publishing divisions. The company celebrated its partnership with a ceremonial ringing of the opening bell at the Nasdaq Market Site in New York’s Times Square. The company’s Nasdaq ticker symbol is VIAC.

The two companies bring a lot of content to each other. Viacom has the right to BET, Comedy Central, MTV, and Paramount movie studios. CBS properties include the CBS Television Network, CBS News and 15 CBS-owned TV stations, as well as the cable network Showtime and the publisher Simon & Schuster. ViacomCBS is valued at an estimate of $30 billion when the merger was announced in August. The company has a lot of competition. Between recent streaming platforms like AppleTV, Disney+ and Netflix, there is a lot of pressure to not only come with good content but how will ViacomCBS make streaming distinct for them.

 

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According to CBSNews, Both CBS Corp. and Viacom have long been controlled by Sumner Redstone and his daughter, Shari through their family’s privately owned company, National Amusements. This company operates in movie theaters in the U.S., U.K. and Latin America. Shari Redstone is the president of National Amusements and has served as vice-chairwoman of CBS and Viacom before their merger. Shari has recently become chair of the combined ViacomCBS board.

The two companies have a history of trying to merge; they have tried several times in recent years but their management teams could never see eye to eye. Last year, CBS’s board went through a lot go change following the departure of longtime CEO Leslie Moonves over misconduct allegations. This helped make room for the merger. Hopefully, Viacom’s content can help create a bigger name within the streaming platform. It will be interesting to see what content they will make specifically for their platform.

Justice Department to abolish anti-trust laws from the 1940’s

On By William StroughIn Distribution, Movie, Technology2 Comments

With the new release of Apple Tv + and Disney + the world has entered the streaming age. More and more movies and shows are turning to streaming platforms today and leaving the old ways of movie theaters behind. The cinematic landscape is changing and old antitrust laws over movie distribution are becoming obsolete and now hurting the industry they were designed to protect. In 1949 Congress passed the Paramount act that limited the eight largest movie studios from buying and owning movie theaters which stops them from controlling the entire movie distribution system. The Paramount act also made it illegal for studios to limit the number of theaters in one area that could play a movie. The Act also made it illegal for theaters to use “block booking” which was a practice that movie studios used. “Block booking” was when movie studios forced theaters to show their bad movies before they showed the good movies. 

These laws were very important during the time when cities and towns had one theater with one screen and showing one bad movie would waste everyone’s time and money all so the movie studios would not lose any money. Today however most cities and towns have multiple movie theaters and those theaters now have multiple screens which show many movies at the same time. With the changing landscape in today’s film industry and increases in technology these antitrust laws are now becoming obsolete mostly because now there are 3 movie theater companies who control more than half of all screens in the US. 

Removing the Paramount Act would not hurt these giant companies because they are too big now. Smaller, independent, theaters are the ones that are going to be hurt by the removal of this act. If movie distributors are allowed to block book again movie theaters would be crowded with just movies that would bring in a crowd. By removing this Act you are hurting not just small indie movie theaters but also the entire film industry by giving these companies the ability to control the distribution.

Source: https://www.nytimes.com/2019/11/18/business/media/movie-distribution-rules.html