Tag Archives: Universal Pictures

Spy Thriller ‘The Right Hand’ Optioned

The spy thriller, The Right Hand, from author Derek Haas is headed to the big screen. Universal Pictures and producer Scott Stuber are behind the fresh movie deal. Haas along with screenwriting partner Michael Brandt, are planning to work on adapting a screenplay. It seems a very well-made book trailer spawned mega interest in the thriller, but this team won out.

The project definitely as a capable screenwriting team. Their works include Wanted, 2 Fast 2 Furious and 3:10 To Yuma. Brandt and Haas are also behind the new NBC series, Chicago Fire.

The Right Hand is the fourth novel from Derek Haas. The novel hit bookshelves on November 13th, from Mulholland Books. The story follows Austin Clay, a spy so covert that he’s basically a ghost. when he’s sent in to investigate a missing American operative, being held by Russians, he uncovers more than he bargained for. There’s a conspiracy at work, involving a mole hiding in the top-most echelons of the U.S. government. Fans of Angelina Jolie’s Salt, and hit series Homeland, should enjoy this picture when it all comes together. It also has the feel of Tom Clancy’s work.

Damian Saccani will serve as executive producer on the project.

In a statement Haas explained, “I’m thrilled The Right Hand is in the hands of Scott Stuber and Universal, with whom Michael and I have had incredible movie experiences. We love that after readers get a chance to discover this spy thriller in November, we’ll get to bring it to the screen ourselves.”

Readers seem to agree that Haas’s work is non-stop action and very stylish to boot. Could this be the new Bourne Identity? This year’s Bourne Legacy was a little lackluster in my opinion. That wasn’t the fault of the actors, who did great jobs with what they were given. Adding Jeremy Renner to the series, did some to keep the beat breathing. The script just felt to me like a somewhat clumsy attempt at CPR. Still, there’s potential there, provided a another sequel pulls out all the stops.

He isn’t a spy, per say, but if this genre thrills you, do not forget to check out Alex Cross this weekend. In this one Tyler Perry faces off against a serial killer in a role Morgan Freeman has brought to life twice before. Matthew Fox and Jean Reno also star.

Of course Mission Impossible 4 also fits into the spy genre. I thought that was a decent return for that franchise, but some of the action was a little far-fetched.

Kelly Marcel To Write The Screenplay T Universal Pictures And Focus Features’ Film Adaptation Of “Fifty Shades of Grey”

Universal Pictures and Focus Features officially announced today that Kelly Marvel is set to write the screenplay for the upcoming adaptation of popular novel, “Fifty Shades of Grey.”  Michael De Luca and Dana Brunetti will produce the film based on E L James’ #1 Bestselling book, alongside James.  The announcement was made by Universal Pictures Co-Chairman, Donna Langley and Focus Features’ Chief Executive Officer, James Schamus.

Marcel most recently wrote the 2011 Black List script,  Saving Mr. Banks, the story of Walt Disney’s twenty-year pursuit of the film rights to author P.L. Travers’ novel, “Mary Poppins,” and the rocky relationship that formed between the two. That film is still currently in production at Walt Disney Studios starring Tom Hanks, Emma Thompson and Colin Farrell with John Lee Hancock directing.

Marcel also served as the co-creator and executive producer of the Amblin/FOX-TV series Terra Nova, for which she wrote the series’ pilot episode.  She will also produce The Madonnas Of Echo Park for HBO.

“Kelly’s work demonstrates her flawless structural technique and passionate commitment to emotion, humor and depth of character which is particularly visible in the celebrated screenplay for the upcoming Saving Mr. Banks,” said De Luca.  “We were all taken with the depth and passion of Kelley’s engagement with the characters and world E L James has created and we knew she was the right person to augment our Fifty Shades family,” added Brunetti.

The “Fifty Shades” trilogy was aquired by Focus Features and Universal Pictures earlier this year with Focus Features marketing the film and distributing the film in partnership with Universal. “Fifty Shades of Grey” has become a global phenomenon and the trilogy has been translated in 45 languages worldwide since its release.  In the U.S. alone, the “Fifty Shades” trilogy has sold over 32 million copies in e-book and print making it one of the fastest selling book series ever.

“Fifty Shades of Grey” follows the relationship of 27-year-old billionaire Christian Grey and college student Anastasia Steele.  Subsequent novels in the series, “Fifty Shades Darker” (September 2011) and “Fifty Shades Freed” (January 2012) explore the couple’s deepening relationship.

Marcel was represented in the deal by WME and Casarotto Ramsay & Associates Limited. There is no official word on who is set to star in the principle roles of Christian and Anastasia.

For more information please see the official Fifty Shades of Grey Facebook page.

First Trailer For Les Miserables Adaptation Released

Have you been yearning to see Hugh Jackman and Anne Hathaway in the new adaptation on Les Miserables? Probably not, but it is still pretty cool. Universal Pictures recently debuted the first trailer for the Tom Hooper directed project which you can see below.

Based on the novel by Victor Hugo and that globally renowned stage show, the story of  Jean Valjean has been seen by more than 60 million people in over 40 countries while being presented in over 20 languages.

Set against the backdrop of 19th-century France, the film tells an enthralling story of broken dreams and unrequited love, passion, sacrifice and redemption–a timeless testament to the survival of the human spirit. Jackman plays ex-prisoner Jean Valjean, hunted for decades by the ruthless policeman Javert (Crowe) after he breaks parole. When Valjean agrees to care for factory worker Fantine’s (Hathaway) young daughter, Cosette, their lives change forever. It begins in 1815 and culminates in 1832 during the June Rebellion.

Les Miserables was published in 1862 by Hugo and has remained widely considered one of the greatest novels of the nineteenth century. The novel and story are considered a “historical fiction” because it contains both a real setting and factual/historical events while containing fictional aspects.

You can see the brand new trailer below:

The cast of the upcoming adaptation is pretty lengthy with more than several main and supporting cast members. It includes:

  • Hugh Jackman as Jean Valjean, a Frenchman released from Toulon prison after 19 years of imprisonment for stealing bread and failed attempts for escaping from the prison.
  • Russell Crowe as Inspector Javert, a police inspector who releases Valjean on parole, then later dedicates his life to imprisoning him again.
  • Anne Hathaway as Fantine, a struggling factory worker and mother of her illegitimate child, Cosette. She is eventually forced to turn to prostitution.
  • Amanda Seyfried as Cosette, the illegitimate daughter of Fantine who has grown into a beautiful teenager under Valjean’s care and falls in love with Marius.
    • Isabelle Allen plays the younger version of Cosette.
  • Eddie Redmayne as Marius Pontmercy, a student revolutionary who is friends with the Thenardiers’ daughter, Éponine, but falls in love with Cosette.
  • Samantha Barks as Éponine, the destitute daughter of the Thénardiers who is friends with and secretly pines for Marius
  • Sacha Baron Cohen as Thénardier, a common thief who is also an innkeeper. He is also the father of Éponine.
  • Helena Bonham Carter as Madame Thénardier, the unscrupulous Innkeeper’s wife who, along with her husband, houses and abuses Cosette until Valjean “buys” her from them after Fantine’s death. She is also the mother of Éponine.
  • Aaron Tveit as Enjolras, the leader of a student revolt and a friend of Marius.
  • Daniel Huttlestone as Gavroche, a streetwise urchin who helps the revolutionaries. He is the abandoned son of the Thénardiers.
The supporting cast includes Colm Wilkinson, Frances Ruffelle, George Blagden, Killian Donnelly, Fra Fee as Courfeyrac, Alistair Brammer, Gabriel Vick, Bertie Carvel, Iwan Lewis, Adam Pearce, Marc Pickering, Michael Jibson, Hadley Fraser, Ashley Artus, Lynne Wilmot, Kelly-Anne Gower, Julia Worsley, Jonny Purchase, John Barr, Nikica Markot, Emmy Misheva, Ryan Laskey, Stevee Davies, Jos Slovick, Mary Cormack, Linzi Hateley, Sara Pelosi, Alice Fearn, Alison Tennant,Josef Altin, Caroline Sheen, Gemma Wardle, Katy Secombe, Gina Beck, Adebaya Bolaji, Alexia Khadime, Hannah Waddingham, Daniel Evans, Katie Hall, Adam Searles, Nancy Sullivan, Tabitha Webb, Jacqui Dankworth, Clare Foster, Adrian Scarborough, Kerry Ellis, Alison Jiear,Mark Donovan, Robyn North, Matt Harrop, Jackie Marks, Alea Young, Sophie Hutchinson, Matthew Corner, Lily Laight, Olivia Rose Aaron, Victoria Melanie Ryan, Kerry Ingram, Jamie Muscato, Mike Johnson, Jason Rowley and Andy Coxon.

Fifty Shades of Grey Author Admits She’s Not A Great Writer

Universal Pictures recently bought the film rights to adapt London-based author E.L. James’ erotic fiction novel Fifty Shades of Grey for the big screen. The book, which James said was inspired by the Twilight series, is currently at the top of the New York Times Best Sellers list.

The official synopsis:

When literature student Anastasia Steele goes to interview young entrepreneur Christian Grey, she encounters a man who is beautiful, brilliant, and intimidating. The unworldly, innocent Ana is startled to realize she wants this man and, despite his enigmatic reserve, finds she is desperate to get close to him. Unable to resist Ana’s quiet beauty, wit, and independent spirit, Grey admits he wants her, too—but on his own terms. Shocked yet thrilled by Grey’s singular erotic tastes, Ana hesitates. For all the trappings of success—his multinational businesses, his vast wealth, his loving family—Grey is a man tormented by demons and consumed by the need to control. When the couple embarks on a daring, passionately physical affair, Ana discovers Christian Grey’s secrets and explores her own dark desires.Erotic, amusing, and deeply moving, the Fifty Shades Trilogy is a tale that will obsess you, possess you, and stay with you forever.”

Though Twilight received backlash for its portrayal of a dominant/submissive relationship, James has addressed whether Grey would be realistic relationship material.

“That’s really attractive on paper,” she said. “I think in their fantasies, yes. In real life I think it’s something very, very different. You want someone who does the dishes.”

Grey, according to E News, is far more sexually charged than Stephanie Meyers’ creation. So erotic, in fact, that James described discussing her novel as “excruciating” on The Today Show Tuesday.

“This is my midlife crisis—all my fantasies out there,” James said.

Though James is now a bestselling author, she isn’t letting the success inflate her ego. She relates that she never saw the book getting so popular, and is still amazed by its popularity. James also admitted to having flaws as a writer.

“I did this in a very undisciplined way,” she said. “I’m a very undisciplined writer. It’s really kind of raw, and, you know, I’m not a great writer.”

As for the film adaptation, few decisions have been announced. Though no official casting decisions have been released, there is speculation over who will play the lead roles of Anastasia Steele and Christian Grey.

Popular choices include Dakota Fanning, Amanda Seyfried and Emmy Rossum as Steele, and Chris Hemsworth, Ryan Gosling and Chris Pine as Grey.

Three New Featurettes Released for Snow White and the Huntsman

Three new behind the scenes featurettes have been released for the upcoming film, Snow White and the Huntsman from Universal Pictures and courtesy of XFinity.

Snow White and the Huntsman is another story that’s been adapted for the big screen based reworked fairy tales. Drawn from the tales by the Brothers Grimm, Snow White and the Huntsman is another entry into the world of fairy tales gone dark. (although this isn’t a stretch based on what the actual original tales contain.)  For example, in the original Snow White story, the evil queen dies dancing to death, forced to wear red hot iron shoes.

According to the official movie website, the story goes as follows.

In the epic action-adventure Snow White and the Huntsman, Kristen Stewart (Twilight) plays the only person in the land fairer than the evil queen (Oscar® winner Charlize Theron) who is out to destroy her. But what the wicked ruler never imagined is that the young woman threatening her reign has been training in the art of war with a huntsman (Chris Hemsworth, Thor) who was dispatched to kill her. Sam Claflin (Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides) joins the cast as the prince long enchanted by Snow White’s beauty and power.

The breathtaking new vision of the legendary tale is from Joe Roth, the producer of Alice in Wonderland, producer Sam Mercer (The Sixth Sense) and acclaimed commercial director and state-of-the-art visualist Rupert Sanders.

Personally, now as I am an adult and no longer lulled in by singing and talking animals alone, I like the darker tales. They are closer to the original, they don’t sugar coat anything, and yet still manage to hold the diary tale sense of life. I will watch this one over its rival film Mirror Mirror (although I’ll see that one too eventually.)

The cast includes:

  • Charlize Theron as Queen Ravenna
  • Kristen Stewart as Snow White
  • Chris Hemsworth as Eric, the Huntsman
  • Sam Claflin as Prince William
  • Lily Cole as Greta
  • Christopher Obi Ogugua as the voice of The Mirror
The Dwarves
  • Ian McShane as Beith
  • Johnny Harris as Quert
  • Bob Hoskins as Muir
  • Toby Jones as Coll
  • Eddie Marsan as Duir
  • Brendan Gleeson as Gus
  • Ray Winstone as Gort
  • Nick Frost as Nion
The film is set to hit theaters June 1, 2012.

You can see the three new featurettes below:

Dr. Seuss Adaptation “The Lorax” Wins Box Office

It seems that the new Dr. Suess adaptation, “The Lorax” has surpassed expectation at the box office during its opening weekend. The film took in $70.7 million which also happens to be the biggest opening of 2012 so far (although I’m guessing that will be easily by The Hunger Games) it is also the most ever for Universal animated film. Considering they expected to bring in $40 million, I am pretty sure Universal is ecstatic with the figures.

“The Lorax” was the movie audiences definitely wanted to see. The PG-rated book adaptation from Universal and Illumination Entertainment now stands as the biggest-opening animated family film that is not a sequel. It also comfortably sits as the fourth biggest opening of all time for Universal as well as the biggest opening weekend for a movie based on a Dr. Suess Book.

Until “The Lorax” had hit theaters, the biggest opening weekend of 2012 had been set with “The Vow” which had debuted with $41.2 million. The difference is a little less than $30 million which in of itself is pretty staggering.

Part of the success that comes with family films like “The Lorax” is that larger groups of people tend to go together than any other type of film. Because of this, the numbers tend to be higher.

Universal’s head of distribution said the biggest part of the success of the film is the film itself.  The audience survey company Cinemascore gave it an “A” and the marketing campaign for the film began quite early to bring attention to it. She also stated,

“People said to me, ‘Why not open it in the summer?'” Rocco told TheWrap Sunday morning. “Why not now, when there’s a lack of family films? ‘Journey 2’ is the last one, and it is in its fourth week.”

The marketing campaign was basically flawless, if you ask me. Universal partnered with MANY companies to get their word out and endorsements for the movie. Companies, including Mazda, The Nature Conservancy, IHOP, Pottery Barn, HP and Whole Foods, to promote the film. They also used to eco-friendly message to appeal to the masses.

On opening weekend, “The Lorax” was definitely a family movie. 68% of the audience included children 12 and younger attending with their parents (or guardians). Interestingly though, the movie seems to skew to female audiences with 57% being female on opening weekend and among those who were 13 and older, 63% were female.

The film has only been open a short time but its already made back the money it cost to make it (it cost less than $70 million to make).

Chris Renaud directed the movie, which starred the voices of Danny DeVito, Zac Efron, Taylor Swift, Betty White and Ed Helms. Illumination’s Chris Meledandri produced.

Here are the weekend’s top 10 movies at the domestic box office:
“The Lorax” ($70.7 million)
“Project X” ($20.8 million)
“Act of Valor” ($13.7 million)
“Safe House” ($7.2 million)
“Tyler Perry’s Good Deeds” ($7 million)
“Journey 2: The Mysterious Island” ($6.9 million)
“The Vow” ($6.1 million)
“This Means War” ($5.6 million)
“Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance” ($4.7 million)
“The Artist” ($3.9 million)

You can watch the trailer for “The Lorax” below:

Watch the New Sneak Peek for Snow White and The Huntsman

Its been a couple of months since the first trailer for Snow White and the Hunstman was released , and finally Universal pictures has released a new video via their Facebook page. Although it has some of the footage from the first official trailer, it has some footage and exclusive footage of Charlize Theron’s guest spot on the show “Top Chef”. Continue reading →