In this issue: Box Office news from The Mortal Instruments and The Conjuring, Ben Affleck as Batman, releases for Ender's Game and Top of the Lake, casting news for The Hunger Games and 50 Shades of Grey, SPAA announces their ones to watch and their keynote speaker at Screen Forever, trailers for Captain Phillips, The Turning and Mr. Pip, new stuff at ACMI, good news for Vevo plus more!
SPAA announces their Ones to Watch
The inaugural SPAA: Ones to Watch program have announced their selection of early career producers to be included in the professional development and mentorship initiative (ostensibly run by the Screen Producers Association of Australia).
Ones to Watch mentors coach their participant on how to develop business networks and prepare pitches in the lead up to Screen Forever: SPAA Conference 2013. At the conference, participants are given the opportunity to connect with screen industry executives through a bespoke schedule of meetings.
Participants can also apply for STUDIO Kickstart, an exclusive opportunity to produce their own fresh and edgy TV series with a $300,000 budget for STUDIO, Foxtel’s arts and entertainment channel.
The talented producers are:
Pennie Brown, VIC
Kylie Bryant, VIC
Brian Cobb, NSW
Julian Vincent Costanzo, VIC
Jo Dyer, NSW
Ester Harding, NSW
Mike Kang, NSW
Tenille Kennedy, WA
Dan Lake, VIC
Juliet Lamont, NSW
Greg Logan, NSW
Emma Morris, QLD
Kate Pappas, VIC
Lara Radulovich, VIC
Behren Schulz, NSW
Lisa Shaunessy, NSW
Kristen Souvlis, QLD
Christine Williams, SA
The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones is number one!
Keeping the Hollywood bigwigs happy, The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones has opened at number one at the Australian box office. The big screen adaptation of the fantasy adventure book series of the same name follows a seemingly young woman discover her extraordinary destiny. Clarissa "Clary" Fray (Lily Collins) has been living quietly in Brooklyn for as long as she can remember, when she suddenly begins to see startling and seemingly impossible things. Just as suddenly, her single mom (Lena Headey) disappears after a violent struggle. As she and her best friend Simon (Robert Sheehan) search for her mother, Clary begins to uncover the dark secrets and darker threats in the hidden world of the Shadowhunters, angel-human warriors who have protected humanity from evil forces for centuries.
The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones is in cinemas now and rated M.
Ben Affleck is the new Batman
Met with mixed responses, Ben Affleck has been cast as the new Batman in the latest Zack Snyder film, starring Superman and Batman. The as-yet-untitled project promises to be an epic journey as the two powerhouse superheroes join forces.
Last month's surprise announcement of the new Superman and Batman movie was met with enormous excitement feeding the gossip mill as speculation exploded over who would be cast as the famous Bruce Wayne alter ego. Only time will tell how Affleck fares in his newest role.
The film is slated for a July 17, 2013 worldwide release.
Ender's Game launches across Australian cinemas 5 December
Epic adaptation of the best-selling sci-fi novel, Ender's Game is set to enter Australian cinemas on 5 December, 2013. The highly anticipated film follows Ender Wiggin, a shy strategically brilliant boy who has been chosen to join the elite Military. The International Military only recruit and train the very best young adults to defend Earth from the hostile alien race called the Formics. As Ender excels at Battle School, he attracts the attention of the highly esteemed Colonel Graff (Harrison Ford), who believes Ender to be the military’s next great hope. Ender must lead his fellow soldiers into an epic battle that will determine the future of Earth and the human race.
Aussie Stef Dawson cast in The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Parts 1 & 2
Australian actress Stef Dawson has been cast in the hugely anticipated final installments of The Hunger Games as Annie Cresta, the love interest of heartthrob Finnick in the series. A Canberra native, her most recent work includes a number of indie films including recent thriller Wrath.
Directed by Francis Lawrence and based on the novel “Mockingjay” by Suzanne Collins, The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Parts 1 & 2 make up the third and fourth installments of heroine Katniss Everdeen’s (Jennifer Lawrence) journey as she leads the districts of Panem in a rebellion against the tyrannical and corrupt Capitol. As the war that will determine the fate of Panem escalates, Katniss must decipher for herself who she can trust and what needs to be done, with everything she cares for in the balance.
The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1 will be released worldwide on November 21, 2014 and The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 2 opens November 20, 2015.
Jane Campion's Top of the Lake gets a DVD release
Oscar award winning Aussie director Jane Campion was at the helm for Top of the Lake, a made for cable TV miniseries that has garnered rapturous acclaim and 8 Emmy Awards in 2013 including Outstanding Miniseries or Movie and Outstanding Lead Actress in a Miniseries or Movie. The Australian series is now available on DVD and Blu-Ray and gives the chance for non-subscription TV audiences to watch the incredible series.
Twelve-year-old Tui Mitcham, daughter of the local drug lord, is pulled from the freezing waters of an alpine lake in New Zealand. She is discovered to be pregnant and won’t say who the father is. Then she disappears. Robin Griffin is the straight-talking detective experienced in child protection who is called in to investigate. But as Robin becomes more and more obsessed with the search for Tui, she begins to realise that finding the girl is tantamount to finding herself – a self she has kept well-hidden.
Captain Phillips gets a trailer
It's already September and October is not far behind. Captain Phillips, Tom Hank's new film will be out October 24.
Watch the trailer here:
The Conjuring makes $200 million at the global box ffice and counting
Continuing it's dream run at the international box office, The Conjuring keeps the cash on flowing as it passed the $200 million dollar mark earlier this week. The supernatural horror thriller just keeps on raking in the big bucks with openings continuing internationally through France, Italy, the Phillipines and more.
The Tiger & Me featured in new film The Turning
Listen out for the song when you watch the trailer for Tim Winton's The Turning, starring Cate Blanchett, Hugo Weaving, Miranda Otto and more, the trailer has featured a song from Melbourne band The Tiger & Me in the trailer. "Other Friends Have Flown Before" is the musical backdrop to the film opening September 26.
Find out more from the band from www.thetigerandme.com.au/
Uptown Girl: The Cinema of Shirley Clarke at ACMI
Starting Tuesday 24 October through to Tuesday 5 November, the Australian Centre for the Moving Image (ACMI) will be home to the cinema of Academy®-Award winning independent American filmmaker Shirley Clarke. A purveyor of controversy and boundary pushing, Clarke challenged ideas of race, class and personal freedoms; never shying away from exploring how an idea could be represented in film. Connecting with the New York cinéma vérité movement throughout her career, she also offered new possibilities for the filmic portrait.
For further film details and session times, visit www.acmi.net.au/uptown-girl-shirley-clarke.aspx
Mr. Pip has a trailer
From New Zealand director Andrew Adamson, new film Mr. Pip has a trailer. Directed, written and produced by Academy Award-nominated director Andrew Adamson (Shrek, Chronicles of Narnia), Mr. Pip is based on Lloyd Jones’ seminal novel (MISTER PIP) which won the Commonwealth Writers’ Prize and was shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize. The film was shot on location in Bougainville, Papua New Guinea and New Zealand.
Set against the backdrop of civil war in Bougainville, Mr. Pip stars Hugh Laurie (House) as the enigmatic teacher Mr. Watts who reads to his pupils from Charles Dickens’ “Great Expectations”. Matilda, a 14-year-old student played by newcomer Xzannjah, is transported by her imagination and the world of Dickens, becoming transfixed by the characters and Mr. Watts’ interpretation of the story. The film also stars Healsville Joel, Eka Darville and Kerry Fox.
Watch the trailer here:
Mr. Pip will be released in cinemas November 7.
Screen Forever announces first keynote speaker
Screen Forever is Australia’s leading media and entertainment conference and the largest congregation of content creators, producers or anyone working in the screen industry who is seeking insight, inspiration, networking, professional development and fun. To be held November 18 - 21, the Screen Producers Association of Australia have announced the first keynote speaker to be Kate Harwood. Harwood is one of the most influential and successful drama executives in the world, as Head of Drama Production, England for the BBC.
Find out more about Screen Forever at www.screenforever.org.au
Vevo now available on Apple TV
Australia's biggest premium online music video and entertainment platform VEVO, has expanded it's ever-increasing reach and is now available on Apple TV in Australia. VEVO is the number one channel partner on YouTube both in Australia and internationally, and he third biggest online video platform.
The partnership further strengthen's the user experience with over 75,000 HD music videos, exclusive original programming and live concert performances now available to Apple TV viewers
Queer Screen Film Festival releases line-up
Join Queer Screen in their first stand-alone event following 20 years running the Mardi Gras Film Festival. Taking place over 4 days from 19 - 22 September, head to Newtown in Sydney's inner west to see the very best of Queer Film. With their line-up released, the Queer Screen Film Festival (QSFF) will be kicking off with Stranger by the Lake; a French drama centring on a cruising spot for men on the shores of a lake, where a tale of passion and murder unfolds.
Other highlights include But I'm a Cheerleader, following lovestruck teenagers at an ex-gay conversion camp, Mala Noche and In The Name Of.
For the full line-up, head to www.queerscreen.org.au/
50 Shades of Grey gets cast
Amid a torrent of speculation, the two leads for the film adaptation of the widely salacious "mummy-porn" novel 50 Shades of Grey, have been cast.
Dakota Johnson, best known for her role in The Social Network will be playing the submissive protagonaist, Anastasia Steele while the role of her dominant "master" has been given to Charlie Hunnam as Christian Grey. Currently starring in the hit series Sons of Anarchy, Hunnam's feature film credits also include Pacific Rim, Children of Men, Cold Mountain and Nicholas Nickleby. The film will follow the relationship of 27-year-old billionaire Christian Grey and college student Anastasia Steele. Subsequent novels in the series, Fifty Shades Darker and Fifty Shades Freed, explore the couple’s deepening relationship.
The film will be directed by Sam Taylor-Johnson, best known for directing the gem Nowhere Boy. For more information head to the official Fifty Shades of Grey Facebook page: www.facebook.com/fiftyshadesofgreymovie.
50 Shades of Grey is expected to be in cinemas July 31 2014 in Australian cinemas.