The Oscars are staying put for another 20 years, and before Scarlett Johansson joined the Avengers, another superhero was in line for the feature. Read on for that revelation and more in Tuesday's latest Biz Break.
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The Avengers (titled Avengers Assemble in the UK) exploded at the UK box office with £15.78 million — or roughly $25.6 million — over the weekend, including its Thursday preview screenings, giving the superhero film the winning spot among British releases. And coming in the heels of John Carter (which has yet to even break the £5m mark in Britain), Disney is wasting no time celebrating, calling the result the biggest superhero-movie opening of all time, The Guardian reports.
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This morning's Biz Break includes news of Webby Award winners, more Hulk gigs for Mark Ruffalo, a Rascal-y pick up by Warner Bros. and a new venture by the founder of Summit Entertainment.
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Rumors, conjecture, speculation... All in a day's work around the Star Trek 2 gossip mill, where the identity of the villain in J.J. Abrams's sequel (currently in production) has seemingly undergone more revisions than a Kardashian's Wiki page over the last few months. We know Benedict Cumberbatch has the part, but which part? Khan? Worf's Zit? Who knows? Except for the obsessives at TrekMovie, that is — they apparently know. Spoiler alert! (Sort of.)
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Scan the latest from a busy Monday news day in Movieline's newly minted Biz Break. Following this morning's edition of the new column is a slew of casting news from Iron Man 3 to Woody Allen's next project, while the folks at CAA caught a surprise break from the office today thanks to a power outage.
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It's not every day that a studio turns 100. As such, Universal is making the most of its centennial with a host of events including the recent Tribeca Film Festival shout out to the the company courtesy of Robert DeNiro and Judd Apatow. But today, April 30, is the big day itself, and to kick off the first day of its second century, the company released "100 fun facts" from its history.
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Peter Jackson is currently experiencing the direct opposite of the CinemaCon Oscar Hype phenomenon explored here last week, with his Hobbit — shot at the adventurous rate of 48 frames per second — drawing more than a few skeptics out of the geek woodwork. This calls for damage control.
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Welcome back to Movieline's new industry feature Biz Break. Monday morning's newsy highlights include a big-time opening for Jack Black's Bernie, the film talent leading Cannes' 2012 Master Classes, the end of Sundance's first London foray, the latest word on the Cuban actors who ditched their Tribeca premiere for U.S. asylum, and more...
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I know what you were thinking: "Whew! The Oscars are over! No more of this Uggie red-carpet business! We can back to real celebrities and real celebrity issues — like what Jimmy Kimmel thinks about Kim Kardashian. Hard-hitting!" Alas, guess who went to the White House Correspondents' Dinner over the weekend? Moreover, guess who just got a freaking book deal?
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While officials in Kazakhstan were initially perturbed by Borat and the adventures of Sacha Baron Cohen's Kazakh journalist in America, now one leader has thanked the filmmakers for a subsequent boost in tourism to the former Soviet republic. "With the release of this film, the number of visas issued by Kazakhstan grew tenfold," Foreign Minister Yerzhan Kazykhanov told the nation's parliament. "I am grateful to Borat for helping attract tourists to Kazakhstan." Very nice! [IMDb, AFP]
Marvel and Disney's The Avengers is set to close out the 11th Tribeca Film Festival on Saturday night, but the blockbuster has already started cashing in abroad, where it's an early hit with audiences. The superhero blockbuster featuring Robert Downey Jr. and Scarlett Johansson opened in 10 markets this week, earning a total of $17.1 million internationally. The haul included opening-day records in New Zealand and Taiwan, as well as new marks for a Disney release in Australia and Italy. As Bloomberg notes, the studio could use the hit after its recent $200 million loss on John Carter. [Bloomberg]
Well, not free free, but still: Hollywood superproducer Joel Silver is looking for a new studio home for his Silver Pictures operation, with which Warner Bros. will officially part ways at the end of 2012. The separation marks the close of a 25-year relationship that yielded blockbuster franchises from Lethal Weapon to The Matrix to Sherlock Holmes — and more than a few shouting matches, outstanding loans and other troubling legacies.
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Said Madeline Puzo, the dean of the USC School of Theater where Ross will speak on May 11: "Gary is a wonderful example of a superb artist who combines a rigorous aesthetic standard with stories that have broad-ranging appeal." No kidding! And you'll really know he's serious when he turns his speech over to Francis Lawrence a third of the way through. [Variety]
This is... interesting: Warner Bros. and Todd Phillips have brought in writer/directors Mark and Jay Duplass to have a crack at adapting Mule, Tony D'Souza's novel about a couple who turn to drug trafficking to make it in the recession. Phillips would direct, making the project the first time the Duplasses, who recently drew mixed reviews with Jeff, Who Lives at Home, did not direct one of their scripts. Unless Phillips goes off and spends the next two years on The Hangover Part III, in which case I guess it might be the brothers' first time directing an adaptation. Wait and see, etc. [Deadline]
Martin Scorsese has long proven his mastery of filmmaking, passion for storytelling and an infectious worship of the medium in which he's produced nearly five decades of singular, sometimes legendary work. Perhaps it should come as no surprise, then, that man of such fervency and skill would take so well to one of the rapidly developing hallmarks of contemporary cinema culture: Trolling.
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