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Friday, August 21

  • Can Brad Pitt Save A-List Stars' Paychecks?

    Brad PittIt's been a cruel summer — and spring — at the box office for Hollywood's biggest stars. The less-than-stellar success for A-Listers has many in Hollywood worried, according to The New York Times.

    A-list movie stars have long been measured by their ability to fill theaters on opening weekend. But never have so many failed to deliver, resulting in some rare soul-searching by motion picture studios about why the old formula isn’t working — and a great deal of anxiety among stars (and agents) about the potential vaporization of their $20 million paychecks.

    The under-delivering stars cited include Denzel Washington, Julia Roberts, Eddie Murphy, John Travolta, Russell Crowe, Tom Hanks, Adam Sandler, and Will Ferrell. At best their films had weak returns. Others close in on the bomb category. Even Johnny Depp's turn in Public Enemies didn't bring the hoped for audience.

    The trend is especially clear when you look at the movies that have topped the box office this summer and their leading stars — Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (Shia LaBoeuf), Up (Ed Asner), and Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (Daniel Radcliffe). Will Brad Pitt "stop the bleeding" with this weekend's Inglourious Basterds?

    Harvey Weinstein and The Weinstein Company built the marketing campaign for the film almost entirely around Mr. Pitt.

    And the actor may pull it off — kind of. Mr. Weinstein contends that Mr. Pitt’s drawing power is not remotely in question. "Brad Pitt is a super-superstar at the apex of his popularity, and he's a large part of why people want to see this movie," he said.

    However, box-office predictions for Inglourious Basterds this weekend range from $25 to $30 million — solid for a Tarantino movie but only midling for Pitt.

    What or who is to blame? The instant peer feedback available from social networking, says Peter Guber, the former chairman of Sony Pictures.

    You look around the theater and can see the glow, not on people’s faces from watching the movie, but on their chins — from the BlackBerrys and iPhones. They are immediately telling their friends whether it's worth their time. And the answer to that, more often than not, seems to be no.

    To which we say, keep the reviews coming, movie lovers!


    Posted 08/21/2009 by reelz

    Related: Adam Sandler | Brad Pitt | Denzel Washington | Eddie Murphy | Harvey Weinstein | John Travolta | Johnny Depp | Julia Roberts | Tom Hanks | Will Ferrell | Russell Crowe | Inglourious Basterds

Monday, August 10

  • Tarantino Joins Weinstein in Stifling the Inglourious Basterds Rumors

    IQuentin TarantinoDirector Quentin Tarantino's latest film Inglourious Basterds, about a WWII "revenge squad" hell-bent on delivering some much-needed retribution to the Nazis for their many atrocities, has been long mired in rumor and speculation. Producer Harvey Weinstein and Tarantino have had enough. Following a showing of the film at Cannes that garnered mixed reviews, rumors started spreading that the 2:28 film was "too long for American audiences" and as much as 40 minutes might be cut for the theatrical release.

    In response to the rumors, which only continued to germinate once the news hit the blogosphere, Weinstein told GQ a few weeks ago that the rumors were utterly fabricated. Now in an interview with Variety, Tarantino revealed the run-time for the final cut, stating:

    I've heard these rumors that the studios told me to cut out 40 minutes. These are complete lies. The movie is actually a minute longer, in running time, than it was in Cannes. It was 2:28, without end credits, and now it's 2:29, or 2:32 with end credits.

    It might sound weird that I added a minute, but you can add little things and actually quicken the pace, and we were very aware of keeping the pace up. To add the one scene, I reduced a couple scenes by a line here, a line there.

    Inglorious Basterds stars Brad Pitt, Mike Myers, Diane Kruger, B.J. Novak, Julie Dreyfus, and Eli Roth.


    Inglourious Basterds - Trailer

    Releasing Aug. 21, 2009

    Posted 08/10/2009 by BrentJS

    Related: Harvey Weinstein | Quentin Tarantino | Inglourious Basterds

Thursday, July 2

  • Inglourious Basterds Primed for Sequel

    The latest movie from director Quentin Tarantino, Inglourious Basterds, hasn't even hit theaters yet and there's already talk of a sequel – or a prequel – on its way. Harvey Weinstein, co-chairman of The Weinstein Co. and longtime producer of Tarantino's films, said that Tarantino has enough Basterds backstory for a whole series of movies:

    We could do two movies, three movies. I was begging for the movies, but Quentin wanted to do the TV series, Bob wanted to do the TV series, so it was like two against one, you know?

    And then Quentin turns it into one movie. Go figure.

    When asked if superstar actor Brad Pitt would be interested in reprising the role of Lt. Aldo Raine, Weinstein said:

    Brad wants to do Inglourious II. We all want to do it. And the movie hasn't even come out yet!

    Inglourious Basterds also stars Mike Myers, Diane Kruger, B.J. Novak, Julie Dreyfus and Eli Roth.


    Next Showing: Inglourious Basterds debuts August 21, 2009

    Inglourious Basterds - Trailer

    Written and directed by Quentin Tarantino.

    Posted 07/02/2009 by BrentJS

    Related: Brad Pitt | Harvey Weinstein | Quentin Tarantino | Eli Roth | Pulp Fiction

Thursday, June 25

  • Inglourious Basterds Cuts Denied, Prequel Teased

    Star TrekThere was a rumor floating around the Internet a few weeks ago that the financially troubled Weinstein Company was going to cut as much as 40 minutes from the theatrical release of Quentin Tarantino's Inglourious Basterds in order to make it more marketable. Tarantino fans were up in arms, to put it mildly.

    Now, Harvey Weinstein fires back, denying that any cuts were ever planned, in an entertaining and profanity-laced tirade against bloggers in GQ:

    Those stories are all untrue. There's no ****king way. Here, read my lips: That is nuts. Please don't even write that, it's insanity. There's not even a question of that. Whatever you're reading, it's like some insane blogger... There's no truth to any of this. He's not gonna cut. What he's doing is just reorganizing some scenes.... Come on, there's s*** on that cutting-room floor that'll blow your brains out.... Listen — this movie will be between two hours and twenty minutes and two hours and twenty-seven minutes. I don't think it's going to be shorter — it's just a question of rearranging. I know he's putting footage back into the movie. I know he's got some cool s*** that he didn't get time to address.

    In passing, he also address the possibility of a Basterds prequel. He won't talk plot details (unless you are a 27-year old Jacqueline Bisset), and It would obviously depend on how the original Basterds makes out at the box office. Still, he suggests that the ideas are in place, and Brad Pitt and others connected to project are interested in doing it.


    Posted 06/25/2009 by Bill

    Related: Brad Pitt | Harvey Weinstein | Quentin Tarantino | Inglourious Basterds

Wednesday, June 10

  • Bob Weinstein's Duplex for Sale: More Weinstein Company Financial Woes?

    Over the past month, several sources -- including The New York Times -- have reported that the financial situation of The Weinstein Company, headed by Harvey Weinstein and Bob Weinstein, is in less-than-ideal shape.

    Earlier today, Gawker reported on another possible sign of desperation from the Weinsteins: Bob Weinstein is apparently trying to sell his Central Park West duplex for $34 million.

    Gawker also chronicled the events over the past year that indicate dire financial straits for the Weinsteins: The company laid off 11 percent of its staff, lost the rights to Sin City 2, possibly due to lack of capital, and may not even be able to afford the distribution and promotion costs for Quentin Tarantino's Inglourious Basterds.

    The company will likely put its hopes behind three movies this summer and fall, and it needs a hit soon to ease its troubles. Those three movies are Basterds, Rob Zombie's H2, and Rob Marshall's Nine.


    Posted 06/10/2009 by Rich Z

    Related: Harvey Weinstein | Quentin Tarantino | Rob Marshall | Rob Zombie | Inglourious Basterds | Nine | Halloween II

Friday, September 5

Thursday, March 29

  • Dear Diary: I've been postponed

    Chick-lit fans, Scarlett Johansson devotees, and vengeful former employees alike will be crushed to hear that the all-powerful Weinstein brothers have decided to keep the much anticipated The Nanny Diaries to themselves for just a little bit longer.

    The movie, which is based on the best-selling novel of the same name, was originally supposed to come out next month. Now, however, The Nanny Diaries won't be coming to theaters until September.

    While a studio's postponing a movie is usually a bad sign (if you like watchable movies, that is), it is also true that studios like to release their heavy-hitters in the fall -- all the better for awards season consideration.

    Given the hype that the similar The Devil Wears Prada received in 2006, it is likely that the Weinsteins are hoping The Nanny Diaries will fare equally well. Either that, or they just want something good to watch in the theater while they're waiting to break the fast on Yom Kippur.


    Next Showing: The Nanny Diaries premieres at the 2007 Venice Film Festival

    Posted 03/29/2007 by reelz

    Related: Harvey Weinstein | Scarlett Johansson

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