In this morning’s roundup of movie news ‘n’ notes from around the web, “Breaking Dawn” is held hostage, Paramount has too many aliens and Cannes approaches.
Matthew Belloni reveals what he says has been delaying the official announcement of the last two “Twilight” movies, which’ll cover the final Stephenie Meyer book, “Breaking Dawn.” Lucrative deals for director Bill Condon and the principal actors are complete, he says, but some of the series’ lesser-known actors (particularly Kellan Lutz and Ashley Greene, who play Emmet and Alice Cullen) are asking for such exorbitant raises that Summit Entertainment may recast a role or two to make a point. I’d say it’s either that, or Summit is telling Belloni that they’re ready to recast because that’s what the studio wants the actors (and their agents) to believe. (The Hollywood Reporter)
Patrick Goldstein chimes in on Nicole LaPorte’s book about DreamWorks, “The Men Who Would Be King.” He’s most intrigued by the stories about how the company mandate was to give Steven Spielberg anything he wanted, from his own hand-picked production chiefs to the ability to direct films elsewhere. But Goldstein thinks the biggest trouble with the studio, and the reason its initial incarnation was a failure, was that the founders weren’t young enough. Apparently, 45 (Jeff Katzenberg), 49 (Spielberg) and 51 (David Geffen) are too old to launch a successful new entertainment company. That’s the age the three moguls were when they launched DW in 1994. All, I’m pretty certain, were younger than Goldstein is now. (The Big Picture) (Photo of Katzenberg and Spielberg by Kevin Winter/Getty Images)
HitFix’s Drew McWeeny wonders if the recently-confirmed Steven Spielberg/JJ Abrams collaboration “Super 8,” which “seems to use Area 51 as a jumping-off point,” could spell trouble for “Paranormal Activity” director Oren Pell’s “Area 51,” a low-budget film also set in the mysterious Nevada installation. Based on sketchy information, a trailer and a 40-page outline of sorts, he seems more enthusiastic about the former film than the latter, but he also wonders if Paramount – which has the rights to both – is going to follow through with both the $50 million Spielberg/Abrams project and the little $5 million one: “for one studio to put two movies out about the same basic thing… that’s sort of unheard of.” It’s not hard to figure out which one he thinks might get the shaft. (Motion Captured)
Apparently, Pixar’s "Up" isn’t finished winning awards. The animated Oscar winner was the top nominee for the Hollywood Reporter’s Key Art Awards, which are given out to honor marketing efforts for films and DVDs. The awards are handed out in an astonishing 74 different categories (by my count, there are 18 different categories for posters alone), and Pete Docter’s movie received 19 nominations. "District 9" was second with 14, followed by "The Hangover" with 12. The awards will be handed out on June 11 in downtown Los Angeles. (The Hollywood Reporter)
David Poland delivers a post-mortem on Appariton with the departure of Bob Berney, and wonders why unspecified “people” don’t understand that “Apparition never was a real distributor.” Naturally, it makes perfect sense to Poland why Berney left on the eve of Cannes: it’s painful to go to a film festival when you don’t have the money to buy. (The Hot Blog)
Geoffrey Macnab says that Cannes is “out of step with modern cinema.” Among his litany of complaints: there’s a big gap between mainstream movies (like the fest opener “Robin Hood”) and art-house films; the selection isn’t exciting enough; the competing directors are too old; the fest is just too damn traditional. It undercuts his argument rather substantially when he quotes Francois Truffaut saying many of the same things about Cannes … in 1957. (The Guardian)
Here’s a Monday-evening image, from Jeff Wells: “Gate 6, Delta Airlines, JFK, 9:06 pm. Several Cannes-bound journalists waiting for the same flight to Nice — Eric Kohn, Richard Corliss, Anthony Breznican, Ann Hornaday, Anne Thompson, Jim Hoberman, Lou Lumenick, Duane Byrge, etc. Plus Oliver Stone, N.Y. Film Festival honcho Richard Pena.” And an appropriate comment from reader Robert Cashill: “I can only imagine the griping and groaning over the in-flight movie selections that will go on. :)” According to the Delta website, features from the U.S. to Europe are “Leap Year,” “Crazy Heart” and “Bride Wars.” I’d say the assembled scribes (and Oliver) will be thumbs-down to two of the three. (Hollywood Elsewhere)
