LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - What, exactly, does a producer do? Besides supervising the production schedule. And hiring and firing talent. And managing the financing and the budget. In short, besides everything.
Heading into awards season, six producers of some of the year's most ambitious films -- Brian Grazer (" Changeling ," "Frost/Nixon"); Dan Jinks ("Milk"); Michael London (" The Visitor ," "Milk"); Rob Lorenz ("Changeling," " Gran Torino "), Frank Marshall (" The Curious Case of Benjamin Button ") and Marc Platt (" Rachel Getting Married ") -- discussed their profession, making good movies in a bad economy and all the different jobs they do.
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1 hour, 49 minutes ago
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Source: Reuters
LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - " That '70s Show " veteran Mila Kunis , fresh from her breakout feature role in " Forgetting Sarah Marshall ," has joined the cast of the Denzel Washington action thriller "The Book of Eli."
In the title role, Washington plays a lone hero who must fight his way across the wasteland of a near-future America to protect a sacred book that might hold the key to saving the future of humanity. Kunis plays a woman named Solara, at first enlisted to betray Eli, she ultimately joins him in his quest.
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2 hours, 53 minutes ago
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Source: Reuters
LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - Paramount already has hit warp speed with its high-profile relaunch of the "Star Trek" franchise.
For its first 2009 tentpole, the studio has taken the unprecedented step of rolling out a full-scale promotional tour for " Star Trek " nearly six months before its May 8 release.
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Thu Nov 20, 2008, 1:46 am EST
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Source: Reuters
LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - Columbia is bringing the story of Eugene Allen, a black man who served as a White House butler for 34 years, to the big screen.
Columbia has picked up Allen's life rights as well as the rights to a Washington Post article that was published November 7 , three days after Barack Obama was elected president.
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Thu Nov 20, 2008, 1:36 am EST
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Source: Reuters
LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - Paramount is getting behind the power of the press. The studio has picked up the life rights of Missouri journalist Linda Trest, who helped break open the cover of a drug-busting con man .
Brad Pitt 's studio-based production company, Plan B, is developing the project with "Troy" writer David Benioff . Screenwriters Anthony Walton and Andrew Dresher (Universal's "How to Love a Republican") have been brought on board to script a film inspired by her story.
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Thu Nov 20, 2008, 1:34 am EST
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Source: Reuters
NEW YORK (Hollywood Reporter) - Collene Campbell's son Scott was murdered in 1982. Six years later her brother, off-road racing legend Mickey Thompson , and his wife were gunned down.
Campbell fought a decades-long battle that ultimately saw the Victims' Bill of Rights become California law with the state's passage of Proposition 9 this month. Now her story is set to become an " Erin Brockovich "-style movie.
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Thu Nov 20, 2008, 12:59 am EST
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Source: Reuters
LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - Much of the conversation about the upcoming vampire romance "Twilight" has centered on the future of the literary-based franchise.
But it also is the future of the independent studio behind the film, Summit Entertainment LLC, that depends in some ways on "Twilight." The much-anticipated film opens Friday.
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Thu Nov 20, 2008, 12:56 am EST
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Source: Reuters
LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - Weekend ticket sales at the North American box office are shaping up as the kind that industry executives dream about.
Just look at the new entrants on Friday: the youthful vampire film "Twilight" and the animated family comedy "Bolt" each target reasonably distinct audiences and should open north of $50 million and $40 million, respectively.
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Wed Nov 19, 2008, 11:43 pm EST
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Source: Reuters
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - The Sundance Film Festival , the top destination for U.S. independent filmmakers , on Wednesday unveiled the opening-night movie for its 25th edition in January, the clay animation feature "Mary and Max."
In keeping with the Sundance tradition of providing a platform for offbeat fare, "Mary and Max" tells the story of an 8-year-old Australian girl who becomes the pen pal of an obese, 44-year-old man living in New York.
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Wed Nov 19, 2008, 7:33 pm EST
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Source: Reuters
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - The Walt Disney Co , whose 2005 release " Chicken Little " was its first digital 3D movie, expanded its upcoming movie slate on Wednesday with a 3D version of " Beauty and the Beast " and a deal to make 3D films with IMAX Corp .
Disney has begun re-rendering in 3D the 1991 Oscar-nominated "Beauty" for a big-screen debut in 2010, bringing Disney's 3D slate for that year to 11 titles, Disney Studios President Mark Zoradi said at an event in Singapore.
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