Tim Burton's Frankenweenie may have to wait until early October before it hits screens, but movie fans will have a chance to get an early look at images from the stop-motion animated feature during an exhibition tour beginning next week in Barcelona, Spain that continues on to seven countries including the U.S.
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In the wake of Rich Ross's departure from Disney, former Warner Bros. chairman Alan Horn has landed the job of replacing him — and turning the studio around from its John Carter epic fail. Horn, who guided WB to hit franchises like Harry Potter and The Dark Knight (and, fun fact, was also in the Air Force!), will now head all of Disney, Pixar, and Marvel Studios films, along with Touchstone-distributed DreamWorks titles. So, best of luck. No pressure or anything!
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Another Monday morning, and thus another look at what carnage The Avengers has wrought at the weekend box office. And while things aren't as bad as they may look at first for Battleship and the rest of the competition, they're not what you'd call pretty. Your Weekend Receipts are here.
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Also in Saturday's (mostly) Cannes related news round up, actress Isabella Rossellini gets a new festival jury gig, Lincoln Center teams with Dubai to spotlight Arab cinema, and two groups join for a $150 million equity fund for indie filmmakers. Also check out this weekend's specialty film releases.
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Also in Monday morning's Biz Break: With only two days and some change before the 65th Cannes Film Festival opens with the world premiere of Focus Features' Moonrise Kingdom, the event revealed its full jury for its Un Certain Regard sidebar. Meanwhile, specialty openers had a drab weekend overall and overseas releases proved a mixed bag for Hollywood.
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It was looking iffy there for a while, but Disney chief Robert Iger has confirmed that the record-shattering Marvel blockbuster's follow-up is on the way some time after the next installments of Iron Man, Thor and Captain America, all due between 2013-2014.
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A 'lost' 1995 interview with late Apple guru Steve Jobs and the expected $100M opener of Avengers are among Wednesday afternoon's round up of news in Biz Breaks. Also, Disney's former chief Michael Eisner is raising big cash for a new venture, Gary Ross is in talks for Houdini and more.
It has been years in the making. It is epic in scope. It contains elements beloved by millions. "It" is the marketing campaign for the hotly anticipated superhero gathering The Avengers, and as promotional surges go, those are high standards to maintain. Hence the $100 million worth of international promotional partnerships formed by Marvel and Disney — although, with such a global presence, it seems natural that a few of their marketing and merchandising moves would make less impact than Mjölnir. Behold the weirdest of what you may find touting the the comic-book blockbuster in the United States and beyond.
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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]
"He then began threatening the exhibitors to put his movie in their theaters, or else he said he might detonate imaginary bombs underneath their seats. 'Is that chewing gum underneath your seat? Certainly they are not plastic explosives,' he teased. 'Trust me, there are bigger bombs in John Carter. Just shoot the executive behind that. Oh — wait, you did,' he said, referring to [Rich] Ross's recent departure from Disney. But perhaps the harshest zinger was aimed at Steven Spielberg's DreamWorks. To urge CinemaCon attendees to see a screening of The Dictator later Monday evening, Cohen promised free Rolexes, blood diamonds, and young girls — 'or boys, if you are from DreamWorks.'" [LAT]
After today's big Rich Ross news, I can't pass up the chance to share a Rick Ross item. As in "Freeway" Rick Ross, the notorious '80s drug lord with ties to Iran-Contra/social networking guru/film producer who has a Nick Cassavetes-penned biopic in the works (not to be confused with Rick Ro$$ the rapper). It's early yet, but with Scarface producer Martin Bregman allegedly interested, the former drug kingpin gave Shadow & Act an update on the project.
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After two and a half years running Disney, during which time the Mouse House released hits like Pirates of the Caribbean 4, Alice in Wonderland, Toy Story 3, The Muppets, and The Help -- but also a string of disappointments topped by last month's quarter-billion dollar bomb John Carter -- studio head Rich Ross is out. "The best people need to be in the right jobs, in roles they are passionate about, doing work that leverages the full range of their abilities," Ross said in a statement. "It's one of the leadership lessons I've learned during my career, and it's something I've been giving a great deal of thought to as I look at the challenges and opportunities ahead... I no longer believe the Chairman role is the right professional fit for me." [Deadline]
Chimpanzees are the putative subject of Chimpanzee, another in a line of Disney documentaries with big, blunt titles (Oceans, Earth, Nature) and very specific stories to tell. This time out, narrator Tim Allen tells us, our tale promises “drama, sadness, and joy in a world you and I may never set eyes on.” That world is the Ivory Coast rainforest, and we’re pretty much looking at it just then, but it becomes clear early on in the beauteous but outrageously martial Chimpanzee that things might not be what they seem.
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Video games have inspired many a movie in the post-Atari age, but Disney's CG-animated November adventure Wreck-It Ralph puts a spin on things: It follows an 8-bit villain named Wreck-It Ralph (voiced by John C. Reilly) who escapes the confines of his video game and journeys through the arcade to prove he's got what it takes to be a hero. As such, the early art work has been retro-tastic, and this week's new teaser poster is no different. Take a gander and get ready to explain to the iPhone-toting, Tweet-happy kiddies what "8-bit" means.
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Strap yourselves in, folks: In the wake of its billion-dollar amusement park-inspired Pirates of the Caribbean franchise, Disney is bringing another classic attraction to the big screen — Mr. Toad's Wild Ride. The Disneyland staple (a ride itself based on a film based on the children's book The Wind in the Willows) is heading to theaters under the direction of filmmaker Pete Candeland, who will helm the as-yet unscripted CG/live-action adventure. I don't know about you, but I take one look at this Mr. Toad's ride poster and just one spot on the release calendar jumps out. How's about April 20 2013/14, if you get my drift? [Deadline]
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