The life story of
President Barack Obama's mother is headed to the big screen, courtesy of a feature-length documentary to be directed by
Charles Burnett.
'Stanley Ann Dunham: A Most Generous Spirit' will trace Dunham's raising of a young Obama in Indonesia and Hawaii and hit upon her pioneering work in the field of Third World microfinance, which provides aid to small-business entrepreneurs in developing countries.
[The Hollywood Reporter}
Steven Soderbergh has locked down his next directorial gig, and it's, well, a 'Knockout.' Described as a spy thriller in the vein of James Bond, the film will star professional mixed martial arts fighter
Gina Carano (in her big-screen debut) as a butt-kicking girl from the wrong side of the tracks who is given the opportunity to use her martial arts badassery for good ... namely international spydom.
[Variety]
The star-studded cast of
Oliver Stone's 'Wall Street 2: Money Never Sleeps' -- which already features
Michael Douglas reprising his Oscar-winning role as the greedy Gordon Gekko;
Shia LaBeouf as Jake, a young trader engaged to Gekko's daughter (
Carey Mulligan);
Frank Langella as Jake's mentor; and
Susan Sarandon as Jake's mom -- continues to increase in wattage.
Josh Brolin has officially signed on to play the head of an investment bank, and
Charlie Sheen, who played the central role of young trader Bud Fox in the 1987 original, is set to cameo.
[The New York Times]
U.S. moviegoers will get their first look at
Heath Ledger's final big-screen performance on Oct. 11, when director
Terry Gilliam's fantasy adventure
'The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus' makes its Stateside debut as the closing night film of the 17th Annual Hamptons Film Festival.
[Variety]
Despite a 1.5% drop in the number of tickets sold between last summer and this one, the 2009 domestic summer box office earned 4% more money that last summer's B.O. to set a new record. The reason: 3-D ticket sales for such hits as
'Up' and
'Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs' caused the average ticket price to jump 5.5% to $7.54, making for a hot $4.3 billion summer that smoked last summer's $4.13 billion and the previous record of $4.16 billion set in 2007.
[The Hollywood Reporter]
For the second weekend in a row,
'The Final Destination' was the top destination for moviegoers. The 3-D horror flick, which employs very creative ways to kill off its stars, held on to the No. 1 slot at the box office with $15.4 million, narrowly edging out
Brad Pitt and
Quentin Tarantino's 'Inglourious Basterds,' which racked up $15 million in its third weekend of release.
[PopEater]
Add your comments