News

Dubai Studio City to showcase facilities at American Film Market

Dubai Studio City, the Middle East’s first dedicated film production cluster, will highlight Dubai as a compelling destination for international filmmakers during American Film Market (AFM), which is currently being held in Santa Monica, California. Dubai Studio City executive director Jamal Al Sharif, will lead a panel discussion on Location Expo: National Perspectives, highlighting production ….

UCLA to host film distribution, prediction and financing workshop

The UCLA Entertainment & Media Management Institute (EMMI) at UCLA Anderson School of Management today announced that it will host the annual Bruce Mallen Business and Economics Scholars Workshop November 7-8, 2008 in Los Angeles, California. The Workshop will bring together top academic scholars and industry professionals to discuss research focused on measuring, predicting and/or ….

Jackie Chan’s latest project

Jackie Chan has began working on his latest film, with the English working title of Junior Soldiers. Filming is expected to begin in early 2009, according to Variety. The film is a period road movie set during the Qin dynasty, according to reports on the Sina.com site. Ding Sheng, who helmed Underdog Knight, is directing ….

New 8 Films To Die For Horrorfest entries and short film contest

Dread Central has teamed with After Dark Films for the 8 Shorts to Die For contest, which will run through December 15th, 2008. Filmmakers are invited to submit their own short horror films, no longer than 3 minutes in length, during that time frame. Then, on December 15th, 2008, submissions will close and the voting ….

Autopsy to premiere at After Dark’s Horrorfest III

Seven Arts Pictures recently announced that After Dark Films has acquired rights to distribute Autopsy as part of Horrorfest III – 8 Horror Films to Die For. Autopsy will premier nationally on January 9th 2009. Five other films have also been announced for Horrorfest, including The Broken, The Butterfly Effect 3: Revelation, From Within, Perkins’ ….

Straczynski writing Forbidden Planet and Pulitzer-winner writing Spider-Man 4

Hollywood is getting serious about grooming its adaptations and remakes right from the start, by hiring the best writers in the industry. According to The Hollywood Reporter, J. Michael Straczynski, who penned the Clint Eastwood film Changeling, has been tapped to write the long-in-development remake of cult sci-fi classic Forbidden Planet for Warner Bros. Warners ….

Jackson in Quentin Tarantino war film and Last Dragon remake

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Samuel L. Jackson is set to star as yet another bad guy in Columbia Pictures’ remake of Berry Gordy’s 1985 cult classic The Last Dragon. Jackson is taking on the role of Sho’nuff, the Shogun of Harlem, originally played by the Julius Carry. Gordy’s son Kerry Gordy and Davis Entertainment ….

Universal to adapt Army of Two game

Electronic Arts recently announced that the company has closed a deal with Universal to bring top-selling videogame Army of Two, to the big screen. Scott Stuber, through his Stuber Productions shingle, will produce the film along with EA, and screenwriter Scott Z. Burns, who recently co-wrote the blockbuster The Bourne Ultimatum, has signed on to ….

Win a trip to New York to meet Australia director Baz Luhrmann

Twentieth Century Fox’s upcoming romantic adventure Australia and Metacafe recently teamed up to launch The Thirty-Second Film Contest. The contest challenges aspiring film editors to use materials from the film as well as their own creative “spin”, including visual effects, music, and voice-over, to put together a thirty-second spot for the film. The launch of ….

The Butcher to debut in the UK

Metrodome, the largest film distributor in the UK, has signed with World Films, to release The Butcher, written and directed by Jesse Johnson, in the spring of 2009. Gaining popularity among movie-goers and critics alike, The Butcher stars Eric Roberts, who earned Academy Award and Golden Globe nominations for his performances in Runaway Train and ….