Bee Gees star Robin Gibb was unable to attend the London premiere of his first classical work because he has contracted pneumonia, his son has said.

In a message read out to the audience at Westminster City Hall, Robin-John Gibb said his father was in hospital, but "sends all his love".

"We are all praying for him and hoping he has a speedy recovery," he added.

The singer had also been due to perform a new song, called Don't Cry Alone, at The Titanic Requiem concert.

The requiem, composed by both father and son and performed by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, commemorates the 100th anniversary of the sinking of the ocean liner.

In February, Gibb said he had been making a "spectacular" recovery from cancer but he was later readmitted to hospital for intestinal surgery.

"Of course these are all the periphery problems that occur when you have an illness like that," his son told Reuters.

"I don't think there'll ever be a time in the future where he is not in and out of hospital because you have to keep constant scrutiny on these things.

"Sadly that's the way it is, and tonight he would love to be here and we're really at a loss because we really wanted him to see this and be able to see our baby come to fruition."

Concern for Gibb's health was raised in recent months by his gaunt and frail appearance.

But the singer said a growth in his colon had "almost gone" and he was feeling "fantastic."

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-17674476

Rihanna has told how she underwent gruelling training to prepare for her role in Battleship.

The chart-topping singer, who plays Petty Officer Cora Raikes in the sci-fi adventure, was put through her paces by a no-nonsense soldier.

She said: "I had to do a lot of physical training. I had to do push-ups, tons of push-ups. I hate them!"

Rihanna, 24, went on: "I had to work out with these sandbags that were the same weight as the weapon and I had to get used to pulling them around. The trainer would make me do it like 40 times back to back, until one of my arms literally was so dieselled (defined) and the other one was so regular."

The star, who makes her acting debut in the movie, continued: "He yelled at me so many times. It was crazy. But it really put me in that place so it was necessary.

"I thought, 'There's no way he's coming into my room, talking to me like that'. After a while, I got so freaked out, he messed up my head. Every time he came over, I would hide all my high heels, any shopping bags, remove my pink iPod from the dock - and no, I didn't have nails! The first time he came over, he saw them and said, 'You have to be kidding me'. I got rid of those so fast."

As the feisty Raikes, the singer got to grapple with aliens and handle big guns.

"That was the cool part - I got to shoot a lot of weapons and kick a lot of alien butt!" she recalled.

:: Battleship opens in cinemas on Wednesday, April 11.

http://uk.news.yahoo.com/rihannas-tough-battleship-training-050647909.html;_ylt=AvrMNfwEhz5K3B1hKhj5U_sLfcl_;_ylu=X3oDMTQyNjJ2aHRpBG1pdANUb3BTdG9yeSBFbnRlcnRhaW5tZW50U0YEcGtnAzViMjJiYjUxLWJmMzctMzYyNS05NjA0LTVmNjc5MDdkN2U0OARwb3MDMgRzZWMDdG9wX3N0b3J5BHZlcgNhYWJiMzYwMC03ZmE2LTExZTEtOWJiOC1mOThlZTY3NDJlZjY-;_ylg=X3oDMTIxcmIzMGNkBGludGwDZ2IEbGFuZwNlbi1nYgRwc3RhaWQDBHBzdGNhdANlbnRlcnRhaW5tZW50BHB0A3NlY3Rpb25zBHRlc3QD;_ylv=3

Fun, frolic and laughter – filmmaker Sajid Khan returns with all this in his “Housefull 2 – The Dirty Dozen”. It promises to take the audience on a laughter ride when the film hits the screens Friday.

The director, who claims to make films from audience’s point of views, has teamed up with Akshay Kumar and Riteish Deshmukh, known for their comic timing. And to spice up the cast, he also roped in John Abraham, Asin Thottumkal, Jacqueline Fernandez, Zarine Khan, Shazahn Padamsee and Shreyas Talpade.

If this doesn’t excite you, there is a team of old actors like Kapoor brothers – Randhir and Rishi as well as 1980s dancing star Mithun Chakraborty. Boman Irani, known for tickling audience’s funny bones, is also an integral part of the cast.

In short, the film’s cast is described as dirty dozen who are here to tell the story of four conman – Sunny Sharma (Akshay), Max Mahadkar (John), Jai Bose (Shreyas) and Jwala Chaudhary (Riteish). All four of them cannot stand each other, but they are forced to live under one roof.

The fun begins when they get married to four beautiful girls. Sunny marries Henna (Asin), Max marries Bobby (Jacqueline), Jai marries Parul (Shazahn) and Jwala marries drama-queen JLo (Zarine).

Just when they thought of living a happily married life, their life takes a turn when their respective fathers-in-law arrive on the scene.

Each father thinks he has the richest son-in-law, each wife thinks she has the richest husband, while each son-in-law is pretending to be the richest. All the couples are invited to their fathers-in-law’s house, and it turns out that they have to live in JLo’s father JD’s (Mithun Chakraborty) mansion.

As they get inside the house, a title “Jolly” gets attached to their names. This is so because each father-in-law thinks that his son-in-law is called Jolly and hence kicks off a journey of hilarious situations and circumstances filled with confusion.

Made at a budget of approximately Rs.45 crore, the film has been shot in Burghley House, Stamford Lincolnshire. The director also shot the film in London and Krabi, Thailand and it is getting a worldwide release.

Musical duo Sajid-Wajid have composed peppy songs.

There is an item number too sung by Mamta Sharma and it is climbing up the popularity chart and Malaika Arora Khan has made it all the more interesting by performing on it.

The film got into legal problem when singer Abhijeet Bhattacharya accused the composers of the film of plagiarism.

He has filed a case in Bombay High Court against T-Series head honcho Bhushan Kumar, Sajid-Wajid and producer Sajid Nadiadwala for lifting his tune from one of his songs of his album “Tere Bina” for their song “Do you know”.

“Housefull 2″ is yet to release, Sajid has already started working on the third instalment of the film. – IANS

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - With her dark eyes, dark hair and pale skin, actress Lily Collins certainly fits the bill to play 'the fairest of them all' in the new retelling of classic Snow White tale in the upcoming film, "Mirror Mirror."

The movie, which comes out on Friday, sees an exiled Snow White teaming with seven rebel dwarfs and one prince (Armie Hammer) to defeat an evil Queen (Julia Roberts), take back her kingdom and restore it to its former glory before Snow White's father died.

Yet the 23-year-old Collins, whose previous acting credits include playing Sandra Bullock's daughter in "The Blind Side" and Taylor Lautner's love interest in "Abduction," learned she had a lot more in common with Snow than just looks.

"I feel like Snow and my experience paralleled a lot during the shoot," Collins told Reuters. "At the beginning of the story, she's very wide-eyed, innocent and unsure of what's happening. I started out very wide-eyed and excited, but unsure of what was going on."

As the "Mirror Mirror" story progresses, Snow White learns to stand up to her evil step-mother and fight for her rights when she becomes part of the dwarves' army.

Collins said she also became a fighter, both emotionally and physically, during the shoot and pre-production as she learned about the acting craft and studied fencing and sword fighting.

Snow White blossoms into a young woman who embraces life and love and believes in herself, leading to a deeper understanding of the world around her.

"I too became more open to living life to the fullest and believing that you can put your mind to doing anything and really accomplish it. I left a very inspired young woman based on what I learned as Snow," Collins said.

SINGER, DANCER, JOURNALIST

Not that Collins needed much inspiration -- in the performing arts, anyway -- because showbiz already runs in her veins. Her father is Grammy and Oscar-winning British musician Phil Collins of Genesis fame. Although the younger Collins was born in the U.K., her parents divorced when she was five, and she moved to Los Angeles with her mother, where she grew up.

In at least one way, "Mirror Mirror" proves that Collins is indeed her father's daughter. A Bollywood-style song and dance sequence during the end credits of the film showcases her singing talents.

"I didn't tell my dad I was singing in the movie because I wanted to shock him by playing him the song," said Collins. "He loved it! He made me replay it a couple times because he didn't believe it was me!"

Although Collins enjoys singing, she is not looking to pursue a career in music, saying that at the moment, "my heart and soul is in acting."

But that wasn't always the case. As a teenager, journalism was her passion. She was published in Elle Girl and Seventeen magazines and in 2008, she worked as a journalist for kids network Nickelodeon, covering the U.S. presidential campaign.

She went on to begin studying broadcast journalism and communication at the University of Southern California, but she had to decide between school and acting when she found herself shooting "The Blind Side" in Atlanta and flying back to L.A. for exams. She has since deferred her schooling but plans on returning.

"That was grueling," said Collins, "but it was worth it because I was able to finish the semester. When I do go back, I want to be there fully and not think about what time I need to be at my next audition."

No matter what happens with school, Collins said she'll always be a journalist even as her acting career grows.

"Journalism is something I've always loved and continue to use everyday," she confessed. "I'm a genuinely interested person. I carry a notebook. I ask questions, and I'm social. In learning about character traits for roles, it's the best way to do research. So I'm still going to be a journalist at heart."

(Reporting By Zorianna Kit; Editing by Bob Tourtellotte)

source:http://news.yahoo.com/fairy-tale-life-mirror-mirror-star-lily-collins-171715065.html;_ylt=AhzK5GfWXXLCz5wOuJ_QL7UwFxkF;_ylu=X3oDMTRjbDRkczI5BG1pdANUb3BTdG9yeSBFbnRlcnRhaW5tZW50U0YgTW92aWVzU1NGBHBrZwNkMzE1YjZjNy04NDkxLTNiMWItYTA1Ny05NTlhYzBiMDA1MTgEcG9zAzEEc2VjA3RvcF9zdG9yeQR2ZXIDOTMyN2FjYjEtNzljMy0xMWUxLWJlOGQtNjQ5YjE2OTY3ODFj;_ylg=X3oDMTFrM25vcXFyBGludGwDdXMEbGFuZwNlbi11cwRwc3RhaWQDBHBzdGNhdAMEcHQDc2VjdGlvbnMEdGVzdAM-;_ylv=3

LONDON (Reuters) - "Titanic" director James Cameron said the 3D version of his 1997 blockbuster, released to coincide with the 100th anniversary of the sinking of the luxury liner, "turns up" the experience of the original.

He also denied suggestions that the film, which hits U.S. and British theatres on April 6, was a way of cashing in on the tragedy, which happened on April 15, 1912 with the loss of more than 1,500 lives.

"I just think it makes it more immersive," 

Cameron said of the 3D re-make. "It kind of turns up the experience to 11 instead of 10," he told reporters late on Tuesday at the red carpet world premiere held at London's Royal Albert Hall.

Titanic, starring Kate Winslet and Leonardo DiCaprio, earned more than $1.8 billion at the global box office.

Before inflation is taken into account, it is second only to Cameron's 3D sci-fi adventure "Avatar", which grossed $2.8 billion, in the all-time ticket sale rankings.

Cameron, who has just returned from a solo dive to the deepest point in the ocean, defended his decision to re-release Titanic in 3D format.

"Look, there's always going to be people that can piss in the soup of anything good," he told reporters, when asked if he was capitalizing on the Titanic tragedy and its upcoming anniversary.

"But frankly I think that remembering Titanic, remembering the history -- that's what the film was there for. That's why I made it, you know.

"I was fascinated by the story, I was fascinated by the history, the people that were heroic, the people that lost their lives. I was genuinely touched by the tragedy when I was there at the wreck.

"I think the film is a good focusing agent for that at this time when we should be remembering the wreck and its message, the disaster and its message for all of us."

For British actress Winslet, who shot to fame after appearing in the original, the 3D experience was a strange one.

"It's weird," she told Reuters. "I mean, it is like being forced to go through a photo album of your former self for three and a half hours solidly. It's quite strange you know."

Asked how she felt about watching herself on screen in 3D during the film's more intimate moments, she replied:

"Oh terrible! Wouldn't you? I am not going to look. I'll be in the bar by that point I expect -- or on the floor!"

DiCaprio did not attend the premiere as he was shooting new movie "Django Unchained", directed by Quentin Tarantino, in the United States.

(Writing by Mike Collett-White)

source:http://news.yahoo.com/titanic-3d-cranks-experience-director-says-120343680.html;_ylt=Arcy6fPGDIO2P7mB9K8TYGUwFxkF;_ylu=X3oDMTRjMHQyOHNkBG1pdANUb3BTdG9yeSBFbnRlcnRhaW5tZW50U0YgTW92aWVzU1NGBHBrZwM4YzAyMTRkMy0xNTgwLTNjMDktOWQ4Yy1jNWE3MDY5ZDY2YTgEcG9zAzIEc2VjA3RvcF9zdG9yeQR2ZXIDYjE0MTA1MTAtNzhjZS0xMWUxLWJlYjktODMxYWUyYjUxZGJk;_ylg=X3oDMTFrM25vcXFyBGludGwDdXMEbGFuZwNlbi11cwRwc3RhaWQDBHBzdGNhdAMEcHQDc2VjdGlvbnMEdGVzdAM-;_ylv=3

LOS ANGELES (TheWrap.com) - To prefer "Wrath of the Titans" to its predecessor, the 2010 remake "Clash of the Titans," is like saying that a punch in the stomach is better than a knee to the groin.

"Clash," after all, featured such terrible 3D post-production (remember Ralph Fiennes' face free-floating an inch in front of his wig?) that it became the standard by which all subsequent awful 3D would be measured.

So yes, this is a sequel that improves upon the previous movie. But "Wrath of the Titans" is still cacophonous, visually jumbled and dank, and painfully underwritten. Plus they gave Sam Worthington Danny McBride's "Eastbound and Down" perm.

Worthington returns as half-human, half-god Perseus, who's now a single dad trying to raise his son in a fishing village far away from sword-fighting and deities. But godliness ain't what it used to be -- Perseus' papa Zeus (Liam Neeson) shows up to tell his progeny that mortals aren't praying so much anymore, which is making the gods weaker, and that weakness is making it more difficult for the deities of Olympus to keep the underworld as locked down as it once was.

Perseus turns down the chance to go on the road with dad, but soon he has no choice after Hades (Fiennes) and Ares (Édgar Ramírez) kill Poseidon (Danny Huston) and imprison Zeus so they can unleash the monstrous Chronos upon the earth. Mankind's last chance is for Perseus to team up with Agenor (Toby Kebbell), half-human son of Poseidon, and Queen Andromeda (Rosamund Pike) to combine Zeus' thunderbolt, Poseidon's trident and Hades' pitchfork into a megaweapon that will take down Chronos.

If this all sounds like a videogame -- go to the place and fight the guy and get the weapon and kill the monster -- rest assured that "Wrath of the Titans" is far less compelling than almost anything you can pop into your X-Box these days.

Perseus is supposed to be torn between his duties as a demigod and his desire to live as a human, but Worthington isn't thespian enough to convey the struggle of choosing Coke over Pepsi.

Not that this is a movie designed for good actors, mind you; most of the prestige names here are either underutilized (Fiennes, Huston, Sinéad Cusack as one of Perseus' fellow villagers) or actively embarrassing. This is one of the few times Neeson has been downright silly in a movie, but at least he's got the robes and wigs ready if they ever need him to play Shazam in a Captain Marvel epic.

Pike, for her part, gets to be a ferocious warrior (with dialogue no stupider than that given to her male counterparts), and Bill Nighy puts the whole movie in his pocket in his few scenes as Hephaestus -- he treats the absurd material with the disrespect it deserves.

"Wrath" has a few moments that pop, particularly a forest battle scene involving a giant Cyclops and his vine-and-tree-trunk-based system of traps, and overall, the film looks brighter than many recent 3D movies. Still, there's about one sandstorm too many, and director Jonathan Liebesman ("Battle Los Angeles") shoots the hand-to-hand combat scenes with such herky-jerkiness that it's often impossible to tell who's doing what to whom.

In the final analysis, "Wrath of the Titans" is at least somewhat better than anyone might have expected. Which isn't the same as actually being any good at all.

http://news.yahoo.com/wrath-titans-release-crummy-sequel-174123415.html;_ylt=ArvwUaXbfjpZl.6b_hlZij4wFxkF;_ylu=X3oDMTRjZXVnZ2NjBG1pdANUb3BTdG9yeSBFbnRlcnRhaW5tZW50U0YgTW92aWVzU1NGBHBrZwNkODQyZTQ2YS03MGMxLTNhYWItYTBkOS0yYTgzMGEwYzEzMjMEcG9zAzQEc2VjA3RvcF9zdG9yeQR2ZXIDYzgyNzc0YTAtNzljNi0xMWUxLWJmZmYtMDI2MDNlMzViMjYy;_ylg=X3oDMTFrM25vcXFyBGludGwDdXMEbGFuZwNlbi11cwRwc3RhaWQDBHBzdGNhdAMEcHQDc2VjdGlvbnMEdGVzdAM-;_ylv=3

LOS ANGELES, March 29 (TheWrap.com) - Ben Affleck is in final negotiations to star in "Nathan Decker," an individual with knowledge of the production confirmed to TheWrap.

The Dan Fogelman-written comedy -- once seen by Warner Bros. as a potential starring vehicle for Tom Cruise -- tackles the always hilarious topics of politics and marital infidelity.

Affleck will play a rising politician whose career takes a nosedive after news breaks that he had an affair.

No director has been named yet for the project.

If the subject matter of "Decker" seems like less than a laugh riot, rest assured that Fogelman is skilled at balancing humor and pathos. His recent hit, "Crazy, Stupid, Love," mixed in lots of punchlines along with more heartfelt moments.

As for Affleck, he is rapidly becoming Warner Bros.' favorite go-to-guy. After the success of "The Town," the studio has been developing projects for him to direct and star, in a relationship that is a lot like the studio's long association with Clint Eastwood.

This time, Affleck, who is busy finishing "Argo," a thriller he is directing and starring in for Warner's, will focus solely on acting.

source:http://news.yahoo.com/ben-affleck-play-cheating-politician-nathan-decker-202254084.html;_ylt=AoU..Y3l8roQgF0Md1FRh.YwFxkF;_ylu=X3oDMTRjZm5uNmtxBG1pdANUb3BTdG9yeSBFbnRlcnRhaW5tZW50U0YgTW92aWVzU1NGBHBrZwM4ZTdhNTZhMC1jNTE0LTM4NGMtODY3Zi01MDJiN2VjMDgzZWQEcG9zAzMEc2VjA3RvcF9zdG9yeQR2ZXIDNmEyNDY5NTAtNzlkZC0xMWUxLWJiNGYtMDJmOWUzMWJjN2Ni;_ylg=X3oDMTFrM25vcXFyBGludGwDdXMEbGFuZwNlbi11cwRwc3RhaWQDBHBzdGNhdAMEcHQDc2VjdGlvbnMEdGVzdAM-;_ylv=3

A News Corporation subsidiary company used a computer hacker to sabotage Sky TV's biggest rival, BBC Panorama has reported.

NDS is accused of leaking information from ITV Digital which could be used to create counterfeit smart cards, giving people free access to paid for TV.

The Carlton and Granada owned company folded in 2002, leaving Sky TV as the UK's only paid-for network.

An NDS statement denied the claims, calling them "simply not true".

ITV Digital was first launched as On Digital and was set up as a rival to News Corporation's Sky TV in 1998.

But the widespread availability of secret codes to reproduce the cards needed to access the service meant ITV Digital's services could be accessed for free by pirates.

Hacking intelligence

The latest claims have been made by Lee Gibling - who set up a website in the late 90s known as The House of Ill-Compute, or Thoic.

Mr Gibling told the BBC he was paid to publish stolen information. His contact at NDS was Ray Adams, who at the time was head of UK security for the firm - which manufactures smartcards for all News Corporations' pay-TV companies across the world.

However, the company has denied Mr Gibling's claims and said Thoic was only used to gather intelligence on hackers.

"It is simply not true that NDS used the Thoic website to sabotage the commercial interests of ONDigital/ITV digital or indeed any rival," the NDS statement said.

"As part of the fight against pay-TV piracy, all companies in the conditional access industry - and many law enforcement agencies - come to posses codes that could enable hackers to access services for free.

"It is wrong to claim NDS has ever been in possession of any codes for the purpose of promoting hacking or piracy."

'Killer blow'

ITV Digital's former chief technical officer, Simon Dore, told the programme that piracy was "the killer blow for the business, there is no question".

"The business had its issues aside from the piracy... but those issues I believe would have been solvable by careful and good management. The real killer, the hole beneath the water line, was the piracy. We couldn't recover from that."

Mr Gibling told Panorama that codes on the Thoic site originated from NDS.

"They delivered the actual software to be able to do this, with prior instructions that it should go to the widest possible community," he said.

Two former senior policemen ran the NDS UK security unit. Mr Adams had been head of criminal intelligence at the Metropolitan Police and Len Withall, who had been a chief inspector in the Surrey force.

Both men were secretly filmed by Panorama.

Mr Adams claimed he "would have arrested" Mr Gibling if he had known ITV Digital's code had been published on Thoic and denied having the codes himself.

But internal NDS documents, obtained by Panorama, show a hacked code was passed to Mr Withall and Mr Adams from a technology expert inside the company.

'Their baby'

Mr Gibling said NDS paid for Thoic's servers and was across all of its hacking and TV piracy.

"Everything that was in the closed area of Thoic was totally accessed by any of the NDS representatives," he said.

He added that although Thoic was in his name, in reality the website belonged to NDS.

"It was NDS. It was their baby and it started to become more their baby as they fashioned it to their own design."

Once ITV Digital's codes were published on Thoic, Mr Gibling said his site was then used to defeat the electronic countermeasures that the company used to try to stop the piracy.

He added that new codes, created by ITV Digital, were sent out to other piracy websites.

"We wanted people to be able to update these cards themselves, we didn't want them buying a single card and then finding they couldn't get channels. We wanted them to stay and keep with On Digital, flogging it until it broke."

NDS's UK security unit was 50% funded by Sky. But the satellite broadcaster, chaired by James Murdoch, told the programme it had no involvement in how the unit was run and was not aware of Thoic.

Mr Murdoch was a non-executive director of NDS at the time although there is no evidence that he knew about the events reported by Panorama.

'Fit and proper'

Ofcom, the television regulator, is currently examining whether Mr Murdoch and News Corporation are "fit and proper" persons to be in control of BSkyB, the company that runs Sky TV. News Corporation currently owns 39% of BSkyB.

Tom Watson MP, a member of the Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee that has been examining the phone-hacking scandal, has called for Ofcom to examine these new allegations in their assessment.

"Clearly allegations of TV hacking are far more serious than phone hacking," he said. "It seems inconceivable that they (Ofcom) would not want to look at these new allegations. Ofcom are now applying the fit and proper person test to Rupert and James Murdoch. It also seems inconceivable to me that if these allegations are true that Rupert Murdoch and James Murdoch will pass that test."

NDS declined to be interviewed for the programme.

source:http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-17494723

Action film The Hunger Games has taken $155m (£97m) at the US box office in its opening weekend.

It is the biggest-ever tally for a film that is not a sequel, and the third best opening of all time.

Above it come last year's Harry Potter finale, which took $169.2m (£106.6m) in its first weekend, and 2008's The Dark Knight, which made $158.4m (£99.8m).

Based on Suzanne Collins' novel, Hunger Games follows a teenage girl fighting to survive a life-and-death game show.

It stars Jennifer Lawrence, who won an Oscar nomination for hard-hitting drama Winter's Bone in 2011.

The film has been compared to the Twilight series, which was also based on a series of novels for young adults.

However, its box office takings have eclipsed the vampire series, whose best opening weekend came in 2009, when Twilight: New Moon raked in $141m (£88.8m).

Industry analyst Paul Degerabedian said the film's success marked "the birth of a franchise".

"To launch in this fashion is mind-boggling," added David Spitz, head of distribution at Lionsgate, which released the movie.

"I was so excited to see how everyone was responding to the material and how ecstatic they were to be a part of it."

Indeed, the film's opening figures may rise again, with final box office tallies due to be released by tracking company Exhibitor Relations on Monday.

source:http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-17507922

Walt Disney has said it expects to lose $200m (£126m) on its movie John Carter, making it one of the biggest flops in cinema history.

The film, about a military captain transported to Mars, could result in an $80-120m loss for Disney's movie business during the current quarter.

Disney shares were down almost 1% in early trading in New York.

The firm is still likely to make a substantial quarterly profit, though, thanks to its TV businesses.

Tarzan

It is estimated that John Carter cost $250m to make and it is likely that Disney spent another $100m on marketing.

Reviewing the film on BBC 5 Live, Mark Kermode said: "The story telling is incomprehensible, the characterisation is ludicrous, the story is two and a quarter hours long and it's a boring, boring, boring two and a quarter hours long."

The film's director, Pixar's Andrew Stanton, had previously had great success with films such as Finding Nemo and Wall-E.

The John Carter film is based on a series of books written by the author of Tarzan, Edgar Rice Burroughs.

The series began with A Princess of Mars in 1912 and ended with John Carter of Mars, published after the author's death in 1964.

The film has taken no more than $184m at box offices worldwide, with cinema owners receiving about half of that total.

It is difficult to compare losses on films, as studios reveal little financial detail and allowances have to be made for inflation.

The Hollywood Reporter says that last year's biggest flop was Mars Needs Moms, which cost $150m to make and only took $39m at the box office.

Disney will be hoping for success from other big budget movies due for release later this year.

The list includes The Avengers, due to be released in May, and Brave, set to be released by Disney Pixar in June.

source:http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-17442200

It's no accident that The Vow's release date coincides almost perfectly with Valentine's Day. The film promises the kind of epic love story that many of us, like it or not, are more amenable to getting swept up in at this time of year: a man tries to make his wife fall in love with him again after a horrific accident leaves her with no memory of the last four years, or of him. Channing Tatum is endearing as Leo and though he has chemistry with Rachel McAdams's Paige, it almost goes to waste due to the film's lack of focus and uneven plot.

For starters, having a stranger for a husband is just the beginning of Paige's problems. Sometime in the four years she's lost, she went from being a preppy law student to a free-spirited artist. Naturally, when she wakes up, she wants an explanation for why she doesn't talk to her family anymore, what happened to her pretty boy fiancé (Scott Speedman), and why her hair is so "weird." It's understandable that she's a little different from who she used to be, but a complete life transformation is a bit hard to swallow — both for Paige, and for the audience.

To see why The Vow may not be the love story you're expecting, just read more.

Watching Tatum and McAdams play off each other is what keeps the movie engaging, and Tatum is particularly sympathetic. Though Paige is the one who has suffered the trauma, it's even more difficult to watch Leo quietly suffer as the love of his life continues to slip away in favor of the life she actually remembers. Leo represents a life that the new Paige is enticed by but can't imagine: he's goofy, laid-back, and immensely committed to her. But Paige can't come to terms with a life she doesn't feel part of, and instead reverts back to her former self.

The sincerity and sweetness that Tatum brings to Leo are reflected in flashbacks of his life with Paige and in his current attempts to win her back, but the film isn't the epic romance that it's packaged to be. In fact, it's more depressing than it is joyful; not only are most of the characters in pain throughout the film, but with the exception of Leo, most of them are downright irritating. Paige's family and friends couldn't be more stereotypically conservative, which only makes Paige's decision to stay with them all the more frustrating to watch. As the film goes on, the love story starts to take the backseat to her family issues, and the crux of the film rests on a subplot that's both lame and contrived.

The Vow is certainly watchable, thanks to the intrigue of the premise, and the mystery of how Leo and Paige will (inevitably, of course) find their way back to each other. But the film tries too hard to manufacture extra drama out of Paige's memory loss, when all the audience really wants to see is a love story to get swept up in.

Channel 4 has announced the launch of a new TV channel called 4seven, which will have its schedule dictated by which programmes have generated the most ‘social media buzz’

It is the first new channel that the broadcaster has launched since 2005, when More4 made its debut. 4seven will go live across all of the major TV platforms ‘later this year’, according to David Abraham, Channel 4’s chief executive, who made the announcement this morning.

"With so much choice out there, viewers are increasingly saying they sometimes just miss the best stuff, despite their PVR [personal video record] and VOD [video-on-demand]. 4seven will give viewers more chances to catch the most popular and talked about Channel 4 shows from the last seven days.

“It will schedule the main channel content that is creating noise - amongst social media, bloggers, commentators and of course via contact our viewers have directly with us - and incorporate this buzz into the look and feel of the channel.”

The channel, which had a working title of ‘Project Shuffle’, will allow viewers to catch repeats of the broadcaster’s most popular shows over the next seven nights, if they missed the live broadcast.

However, it is not yet understood at this stage exactly how each programme will be picked for 4seven and how much impact bloggers, commentators and social media contributors will have on the schedule.

Abraham added: “Scheduled in close harmony with all our other channels, 4seven will be a powerful way of maximising the audience for the many hours of new Channel 4 programming we launch every week, as well as an opportunity to direct viewers back to Channel 4 to watch more.”

The launch date for the new channel has not been confirmed but it is believed that June 2012 is a likely target date.

The station is understood to have a slot on Freeview, Sky and Virgin Media.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/social-media/9130571/Channel-4-to-launch-new-TV-channel-based-on-social-media-buzz.html

Channel 4 has confirmed its teen drama Skins is to end.

The final episodes will be broadcast as part of the seventh series in 2013.

The show helped to launch the careers of actors like Dev Patel and Kaya Scodelario, who has since appeared in Clash of the Titans and Wuthering Heights.

"Skins is a brilliant show which has defined a generation and will go down as a truly iconic, game-changing piece of television," said Channel 4.

"After seven series it is time for E4 to make way for the next generation of the bold, the new and the innovative."

The official Skins account also tweeted to say: "Have no fear Skins will return in 2013 for one last tear up but the who, the where and the what is still T.B.C. Excited? We definitely are!"

Over the course of six series, the show has changed its entire cast twice in a bid to keep itself fresh.

Skins was first shown on E4 in January 2007 and debuted with 1.4 million viewers.

In 2009, it won the audience award at the Baftas.

Another graduate of the show was Nicholas Hoult, who played Tony in the first two series. He went on to star in films such as X-Men: First Class and A Single Man.

His co-star Dev Patel, who played Anwar, went on to find fame in Oscar-winning movie Slumdog Millionaire.

Average audiences for the latest series of Skins, the sixth, have been the lowest so far.

The opening episode was watched by a total of 961,000 viewers, the first time a series debut has had under a million viewers.

It was celebrated, and criticised, for its portrayal of teenagers and their attitudes towards sex and drugs.

A US remake in 2010 attracted controversy.

Parenting group, the Parents Television Council in America (PTC), said the show could be breaking US laws against sexual exploitation of minors.

source:http://www.bbc.co.uk/newsbeat/17296353

By the title of this episode of Justified, you should be able to guess that there's more shooting than usual. Yet as is also usual, this show is a lot more than just its body count.

Driving down to investigate, Raylan isn't happy that his father told the state troopers (there's Tom Bergen again!) to direct all their questions to "his son, the U.S. Marshal." He does not have time or energy to deal with his father's issues, and yet here again he has no choice. The look on his face as he leaves the house...oh, I would not want to be on the other side of that. He hunts down his father and takes him to task ("You want to die in prison, Arlo? Just say the word and I'll help make it happen"), but gets another slap in the face when Arlo mentions Boyd's name.

Meanwhile, Boyd and Ava are dealing with the shooting, and pay a visit to Ellstin Limehouse. "How come you know so much about me when I know so little about you?" Boyd asks him. Limehouse demonstrates that he knows a lot about everyone, and that Boyd is not exactly low-profile either. Boyd wants Limehouse to confirm that Quarles and his people are behind the incident before he retaliates, and is not entirely sure Limehouse wasn't involved besides. Simultaneously, Quarles is pushing Wynn Duffy to find Raylan's weak spots in case he needs to know them. Oh, and he's still got some poor guy bound and gagged in the bedroom. I was kind of hoping we were past that creepy happening.

As Ava tells Boyd that there's a witness to the shooting, a stone-faced Raylan shows up to confront Boyd at his bar. He is not happy about having his family name attached to any of Boyd's doings and tells him that their next such conversation will not end with him finding Jesus in a hospital bed. This not-so-friendly chat sends Raylan to Ava, so that they can both talk to said witness, a prostitute we met last season. Just as she's about to spill, her pimp/boss crashes the party, so Raylan not-so-subtly threatens him with a flash of his badge and gun. On their way out, he punches the guy in the face for good measure.

All this activity has sent Quarles' people into a panic and they're trying to scatter when he rolls up on their trailer. His attempt to question the punk that the witness identified turns very quickly into an all-out brawl while the trailer is being towed. It's one of Justified's more unique fight scenes, which ends with Raylan's suspect running off and the guy driving the tow vehicle dead as an accidentally discharged bullet clipped him in the neck. Never let it be said actions on this show do not have consequences.

Duffy shows up on Quarles' front porch to brief him on all the new developments. He indirectly accuses Quarles of having Boyd's clinic hit, and actually sort of stands up for Raylan when Quarles suggests that he might be in Boyd's back pocket. Unfortunately for us, Duffy tells the crazy person that Arlo is part of Boyd's team, which you know is going to come back to haunt everyone. It's too important for it not to. Yet surprisingly, it's not Quarles who's behind the whole thing: it's one of Limehouse's people, who was hoping to see both sides destroy themselves. Well, that's a legitimate surprise and an interesting third option.

At the episode's end, Raylan finally finds his ex-wife at her sister's house. Just as Raylan is threatening to go in and get her, Winona finally rears her head and tells him to behave. He goes off on her about having run off with the evidence money and the abrupt end of their relationship; she explains that he's still a trouble magnet and that's not conducive to child rearing. It's the same thing we've heard about since the show started: she wants him to change, and she can tell that he has no real interest in doing so. The interesting point here is that she tells him she didn't take the money, so who did? That'd be Charlie, the guy who runs the evidence room and is now in Texas. He's even got his midlife crisis convertible. Raylan is just going to get drunk with Art, because we need more scenes between them.

There are quite a few things I like about this episode, and I'm just going to take them in chronological order. Firstly, I'm thrilled to see Tim Gutterson back, even if only for a scene; I am of the opinion that Jacob Pitts is quite underrated, and not used near enough this season. He has fantastic chemistry with Timothy Olyphant and the show just isn't the same without that Tim/Raylan banter. Likewise, I appreciate the scenes between Olyphant and Nick Searcy, because it really does feel like they're old friends and they have a unique bond together that Raylan doesn't have with anyone else on the show. (In fact, I am of the belief that the trio of Marshals - Pitts, Erica Tazel and Searcy - could not get much better.)

I also have an appreciation for how this episode is structured. What turned out to be true was completely different from what we were led to believe, but those answers make sense. There's nothing I loathe more than a show that throws in a last-minute plot twist just for the sake of having one, and you realize that it has nothing to do with anything that came before. It's completely plausible how this episode of Justified turned out, and at the same time, you can't fault the audience for thinking the way we did. The show knew what we (and the characters) would expect, and played on that.

And honestly, its third option was a welcome one. Over three seasons, like the character of Raylan Givens himself, Justified has sometimes been defined by its body count, and the fact that violence is a part of its narrative. That is a completely valid part of its world, but sometimes I feel like it leads to the show getting short shrift. Some people don't necessarily look past that. Yes, we got more dead bodies this week, but the bulk of the episode was about how these characters react to that and how it doesn't have to be the only choice. Limehouse's speech near the episode's end was proof of that - that while violence is part of this culture, that does not mean these characters all actively engage in it, or even condone it. To think otherwise would be to unfairly simplify this complex and rich series.

There's so much more going on here, anyway. Ae Winona and Raylan really done, or are we just going to see them back together in a few episodes? In the interest of not repeating ground already covered last season, let's hope they stay split, or at least that it's a long and believable road back. Although I don't care for their relationship, I don't want the two characters to fall into the cycle of the same material over and over again. Plus, Winona has a valid point; Raylan's life does not lend itself to fatherhood, and they both know that. That is something that really interests me.

And another thing: as much as I love Neal McDonough, Quarles has begun to veer from interesting for me, to downright uncomfortable to watch. I assume that is the point, and I still think that his inevitable downfall will be fantastic, but I hope I don't have to sit through much more of his odd proclivities. They just stick in the imagination in an uneasy way. Compared to him, Mags Bennett seems downright cuddly. But this is Justified: it's not pretty, it's not easy, and that's what makes it so fantastic each week, because like its hero, it's not afraid of anything.

source:http://www.starpulse.com/news/Brittany_Frederick/2012/02/22/justified_recap_when_the_guns_come_out

Denzel Washington and Ryan Reynolds in Universal’s “Safe House” pummeled the heck out of the box office last weekend earning a much bigger-than-expected $40.2 million for second place and in the process proved that offering a counter-programmed option over Valentine’s weekend was a solid strategy. Generating great word-of-mouth the R-rated action drama surprisingly shot to the top of the chart in its second weekend with a four-day total of $28.369 million and a domestic total by Monday night of $82.6 million.

Sony's romantic drama “The Vow” starring Channing Tatum and Rachel McAdams led last weekend’s Valentine’s box office chart with a huge $41.7 million and received additional love from audiences with a massive $11.5 million on Valentine’s Day alone. A four-day second weekend gross of $26.6 million proved that even today, some relationships can last and has pushed the film to $88.527 million in domestic revenue after 11 days in release.

Warner Bros. “Journey 2: The Mysterious Island” starring action star Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson had a solid second weekend with a tiny 27% drop, a four day total of $26.4 and a domestic total to date of $59.5 million. The film is even outperforming its predecessor at the 11 day mark and has clearly become the film of choice for family moviegoers.

Sony’s “Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance” in 3-D starring Nicolas Cage as Marvel Comic character Johnny Blaze earned $25.7 million for the four day weekend. 65% of the weekend gross came from 3-D and this latest installment benefitted from a much lower production cost than the original film. The first installment released over President’s weekend in 2007 debuted with a whopping $52 million dollars for the 4-day period.

Twentieth Century Fox unleashed the action comedy “This Means War” as a sort of anti-Valentine for those ready to leave the mushy stuff behind and embrace a different kind of romance. Starring Chris Pine and Tom Hardy as two former CIA operatives who realize they are dating the same woman played by Reese Witherspoon, the film is directed by “Charlie’s Angels” and “Terminator: Salvation” helmer McG and had a stronger than anticipated $20.4 million 4-day debut.

Also opening for the first time in North America in 1,522 theaters is Disney’s G-rated “The Secret World of Arrietty” which has already proven to be a sensation overseas with over $126 million in international receipts. The film earned $8.1 million for the four day President’s weekend.

Year to date box office continues to kick ass with every week this year “up” vs. the comparable period a year ago with revenues up a whopping 18%.

Top Movies for President's Weekend of February 10, 2012

Movie F-S-S-M Gross Total to Date

1 Safe House (R) $28.4M $82.6M

2 The Vow (PG13) $26.6M $88.5M

3 Journey 2: The Mysterious Island (PG) $26.4M $59.5M

4 Ghost Rider: Spirit Of Vengeance 3D (PG13) $25.7M $25.7M

5 This Means War (R) $20.4M $22.0M

The Simpsons has reached a major television milestone with the broadcast of its 500th episode on Sunday.

The family is exiled from Springfield to a community of outsiders where they meet Wikileaks founder Julian Assange.

Fox TV said Assange recorded his lines from the UK, where he is fighting extradition to Sweden over alleged sex offences - charges he denies.

The animated comedy is in its 23rd season, making it the longest-running prime-time scripted programme on TV.

The show is contracted to run for another two seasons, which will bring it to 559 episodes.

In the 500th episode, entitled At Long Last Leave, the Simpsons sneak into a secret town hall meeting and hear they are about to be thrown out of town.

The complaints against them include the usual: Bart's antics and Homer's boorishness. But in a twist, Marge's niceness is also cited.

They find a welcome in "the Outlands", where Assange is their neighbour.

Bart asks: "How ya doin', Mr. Assange?"

Assange replies: "That's my personal information, and you have no right to know about it."

Previous guest voices on the programme have included former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, graffiti artist Banksy and novelist Thomas Pynchon.

While still popular, critics say the show has faded from its former glory during the 1990s and now regularly rehashes themes from past episodes

source:http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-17092968

I mentioned earlier on this blog that I’ve decided to save hours and sanity by skipping the American Idol auditions this season. I make an exception, at least partially, for the Hollywood round, which is one of my favorite parts of Idol even if Idol’s TV audience doesn’t seem to share that opinion. But last night’s episode, which ended with a “cliffhanger” that was either exploitative or ridiculous, is another example of the reasons I’m losing patience with this show.

I’ve never understood why Idol doesn’t do more with Hollywood than it does. Well, I do understand, in that these are traditionally among the lowest-rated episodes of the season. But I feel like—unlike almost anything else Idol does—it could actually make more of the winnowing process, especially the group auditions, which are kind of like a mini-reality show within a reality show. As stressed-out, tired hopefuls work through incompatibilities and conflicting ambitions to try to pull off a number, it produces reality-TV drama that nonetheless is legitimately about the artistic process.

Instead, Idol wants to focus on one individual audition after another, and on drama that has little or nothing to do with singing. Case in point: last night’s audition episode, which spent an evening hyping up a medical crisis and ended on a cliffhanger as a contestant went wobbly and fell off the stage after singing for the judges.

Everything that a decade-plus of watching reality TV has taught me says that the medical crisis will not be as awful as it was made out to be. Of course, I don’t know that, and it’s hard to say which is worse—if Idol used a serious health problem as a draw for viewers, or if it inflated a small accident to make sure viewers come back on Thursday. Either way, it reeks of desperation amid declining ratings and suggests a reason those ratings may be declining. Too much of Idol now has to do with things that don’t involve the songs.

I don’t mean that I need Idol to become more musically purist: it has always been as much about performance and packaging as about pure vocals, and I think that’s fine, because it’s a pop-star competition. But I suspect part of the success of The Voice comes from frustration that Idol has become too much about things like the audition round gawking and the musical-chairs of the judges. Last night’s cliffhanger is a little thing, but I think it’s also symbolic. If Idol really is falling, this is not the way to get back up.

source:http://entertainment.time.com/2012/02/09/the-morning-after-how-the-mighty-have-fallen/#ixzz1lxLDmBtq

Confession: we're crying. Don't worry! It's happy crying!

What's making us happy cry, you ask? Oh, just the fact that we finally get to discuss the delicious awesomeness that is NBC's new show Smash with you!

For months, we've had to keep mum about the Broadway-based drama from Steven Spielberg (yes, really!) that is our favorite new midseason offering, so we're very curious to hear what you thought of the highly-anticipated and much-talked about Smash...

MORE: Three Reasons Smash Might Be Your New TV Obsession!

While Smash is a show focusing on the Broadway and musical theater world, you don't need to be fan of Wicked, American Idiot, etc. to enjoy the show, which is lead by a truly amazing cast that included Debra Messing, Angelica Huston, Jack Davenport, Megan Hilty and Katharine McPhee, to name a few.

In case you've been living under a rock for the last few weeks, here's what Smash is all about in two words: Marilyn Monroe. Yes, Smash follows the tireless efforts of Messing, Huston & Co. as they attempt to make a Broadway show about the legendary starlet and it truly begins with the battle of the two Marilyns: Ivy (Hilty) and Karen (McPhee). Both girls have got the vocals (for realz) and the role isn't cast by pilot's end, so head to the comments and tell us who your fave Marilyn was!

And just because Smash features some music, don't call it a Glee knock-off. "This is a glamorous soap opera," Hilty tells our Kristin Dos Santos. "It is more adult and it is darker…It's about Broadway instead of high school."

We could gush on about our love for the series (The musical numbers! The drama! The hotness that is Davenport!), but we'll turn it over to you. Vote in our latest Save It or Sink It poll above and then head on over to the comments to tell us if Smash lived up to the hype!

Underworld 4: New Dawn is the next installment in the popular film series following the exploits of the aristocratic vampires and their former slaves and now enemies the lycans (werewolves).

There isn’t a set script for the fourth film yet, but Len Wiseman, who directed the first two Underworlds has said that he wants to set the next film in space. Wow.

2011 marked the lowest attendance in theaters in 16 years, but studios are hoping 2012's big movies will revive our interest in actually going to a theater to see a feature film rather than waiting for it to be released on home video. Superheroes, brave teens battling to the death, the rebirth of a few classics, and not one but two films involving Abraham Lincoln are all among the most anticipated releases of 2012.

Here are 20 of the 2012 films with the most pre-release buzz (listed in release date order).

The Buzz: Lionsgate's not known for backing major theatrical franchises, but the studio's hoping it's got another Twilight or Harry Potter on its hands with The Hunger Games. The first film of the planned four-part series (based on a trilogy of books by Suzanne Collins) introduces audiences to the world of teens fighting to the death as representatives of their districts. The Hunger Games books appeal to the same demographic as that of Stephenie Meyer's sparkling vampire stories and, like Twilight, there are 'teams' formed supporting the two lead male characters/love interests. But that's where the similarities end, as The Hunger Games is much darker than Twilight ever dreamed of being.