Scoring more than $160 million in three weeks to become China's highest-grossing domestic film ever, Lost in Thailand is a boisterous, joyously hokey comedy that connects with auds through its explicit desire to please. Helmed by lead actor Xu Zheng, the $2.2 million-budgeted follow-up to 2010's modest hit Lost on Journey is unexpectedly well honed for a debut feature. Peppering this feel-good road movie with the perkier thrills of a cat-and-mouse chase, Xu draws sparks from a talented comic trio cast as three Beijingers on an accident-prone journey to Chiangmai. Boffo B.O. should stoke offshore ancillary interest. more »
Middle-earth may have some perils of the stomach variety if Kiwi viewers are an indication of things to come. Early screenings of The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey in New Zealand have left some movie-goers feeling nauseous.
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James Cameron will return to Pandora next year. The Avatar director, who attended the premiere of Peter Jackson's The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey in Wellington, New Zealand on Wednesday, told the West Australian (via Total Film) that he hoped to have the scripts to Avatar 2 and 3 completed by February, and to begin shooting by the end of 2013. more »
James Cameron said last Spring he disbanded his production company's development wing, noting that, aside from his deep-sea submarine dives, he's exclusively in the "Avatar business - meaning Avatar 2, Avatar 3, and possibly Avatar 4. Well, that was then and this is now… But Cameron's production company has picked up rights to Taylor Stevens' thriller novel, The Informationist, which he'll likely direct and produce.
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Also in Wednesday morning's round-up of news briefs, the Directors Guild of America set up dates for its awards. France has chosen its submission for foreign-language Oscar consideration. And, the producer of 2016: Obama's America denies racism charge.
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James Cameron recently said he is Avatar-bound and Sigourney Weaver said she will appear in what will be Avatar 2, 3, 4, confirming that the Titanic director is still on track with the franchise, which made over $2 billion worldwide in its first mammoth installment, which debuted back in December, 2009.
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The extended Q&A transcript from James Cameron's China-focused chat with the New York Times and The Economist reveals the extent of Cameron's Avatar-tunnel vision. "I’ve divided my time over the last 16 years over deep ocean exploration and filmmaking. I’ve made two movies in 16 years, and I’ve done eight expeditions. Last year I basically completely disbanded my production company’s development arm. So I’m not interested in developing anything. I’m in the Avatar business. Period. That’s it. I’m making Avatar 2, Avatar 3, maybe Avatar 4, and I’m not going to produce other people’s movies for them." Looks like it'll be all Avatar, all the time from here on out, which is... good news? [NYT]
The visionary, Oscar-winning director of The Abyss, Titanic and Avatar went to the planet's deepest spot, and all we got were these lousy clips from the bottom of the sea. Don't fret, however! There is much, much more where James Cameron's preliminary submarine footage came from. For now, let the director/explorer fill you in on what he witnessed, right down to shrinking windows under 16,000 pounds of pressure per square inch.
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If you're an Avatar superfan who's been yearning for your own lifelike bundle of joy to complete your home(tree), look no further than this custom-made offering from eBay seller tinytoesnursery15. The humanoid-Na'vi "REBORN AVATAR BABY" comes with hand-painted blue skin, jewels and various adornment, and has a head that turns... so it can watch you as you sleep. And it can be yours for just $130!
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In New Zealand! And how's this for a welcome from "New Zealand First" leader Winston Peters: "'To reside in New Zealand indefinitely, well, what does that mean? Full-time, part-time? ... If someone was coming to live in New Zealand and become a New Zealander, that is a different matter.' Mr Peters criticised the decision as typical of the 'stupidity' of the Government and the 'rubber-stamp merchants' at the OIO. 'If [the applicant] was bringing some expertise to expand this country's export wealth, particularly if it was land to be developed, or better utilised, that would be a different matter.'" Seriously! It's not like Avatar sequels grow on trees. [NZ Herald]
Edgar Rice Burroughs created the planet-hopping hero John Carter of Mars way back in 1912 in his serialized novels about a Southern gent transported to an alien world. So why does the new trailer for John Carter, directed by Pixar vet Andrew Stanton, feel so familiar? Shades of Avatar and Attack of the Clones distract from what should be nonstop ooh-ing and aah-ing over giant CG creature effects and Taylor Kitsch in a loincloth. Then again, Taylor Kitsch in a loincloth... thank you for that, Mr. Stanton.
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Here it is, the reason I renewed my subscription to the internet: Rich lists. They're just maddening, enthralling and depressing no matter who's on them. Actually, if I were on one, I'd be depressed about it. Like, "I'm the richest? Is this all there is? Time to move to Sedona. Time to open a stationery shop." On the UK magazine Heat's 30 Under 30 Rich List, you'll be pleased to learn that the UK's young movie stars make more money than its pop stars. But who leads the tally?
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Earlier this month, Netflix released a list of their ten most-rented movies ever. It was a strange selection that shocked and saddened us -- Sandra Bullock's films The Blind Side and Crash ranked first and second, while the abominable, Jack Nicholson-Morgan Freeman terminal illness buddy comedy The Bucket List finished third. But weep for America's horrendous taste no more -- TorrentFreak has ranked the most pirated titles of all time and they are much more respectable selections. Can you guess what they are?
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According to a report from insider tipsters, Disney is set to announce that they've licensed the rights to adapt James Cameron's Avatar into a series of theme park rides at Disney World's Animal Kingdom in Florida. The news follows a long battle between Disney and rival amusement parkers Universal Studios for rights to the 20th Century Fox property, but the Avatar-Disney marriage makes good sense for a few reasons or five. Let's help Disney plan the most Na'vi-riffic Avatar experience possible with these proposed attraction ideas!
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Actor Stephen Lang, award-winning veteran of stage, film, and television, earned his biggest success to date playing the hardened Colonel Miles Quaritch in James Cameron's Avatar. But in the wake of Avatar, the character actor was looking for a departure of sorts, and he found it in the mythic fantasy landscape conceived by Robert E. Howard playing a bloodthirsty warlord in Marcus Nispel's Conan the Barbarian.
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