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July 23, 2011
Immortals Panel @ Comic-Con 2011
@ Wondercon Back in April, we saw the first trailer and footage from Tarsem's Immortals... this time around the Immortals posse came to the largest stage of geekdom at this year's Comic-Con in San Diego. It sounds like they have shown some, if not all of our sequence... crazy.
Various panel action recaps and spoilers below:
SDCC 2011: Tarsem Singh's 'Immortals' Panel
Tarsem revealed that the actual film is quite darker in tone than recent ads have revealed.
Footage shown was an amazing visual feast for the eyes. Imagine a cross between 300, Spartacus: Blood & Sand, or Troy,
but completely in 3D, and on an exponentially more epic scale. Diamond
arrows, golden armor, and thousands of warriors shed blood across the
screen in terrific stylized slow motion. (geeksofdoom.com)
'Immortals' Is 'More Hardcore' Than The Trailers Suggest
The first clip was cut like a trailer and, for the most part, showed what we already knew. This movie looks like 300 if it was renamed "300 Million." It takes that kind of glossy, shirt-off look and puts it on a much grander scale with the story of a human (Cavill) who finds himself somehow embroiled in a battle between the Gods and Titans. We saw action scenes where the main protagonist skillfully distributed violence around the room, leaving a cloudy mist behind them. Bodies exploding as they met with weapons. Severed limbs and sprouting blood. You get the drift.
The second clip, played a bit later in the panel (and, oddly, played twice), showed an massive, massive room with statues of Titans. Five Gods, lead by Zeus (Luke Evans) transport in with a mission to unleash hell. They're fighting a sort of more muscular, lean, orc type creature and the action is exciting but familiar. Long, static takes of martial arts moves that all end in the slow motion destruction of one or the other combatant. One example is a trident is stuck into a neck, rips off the head, the head is stomped on the ground and then flinged up into another enemy. We're talking bloody, cool stuff. (slashfilm.com)
Tarsem Talks 3D Visuals and Screens Fight Scene Footage
Singh, producers Mark Canton and Gianni Nunnari come on stage. Singh says the tone of the movie is darker than what the trailers have shown and the footage we're about to see prove that. We then get to the new footage and this is the first time I've seen scenes from the film in 3D. It looks good and Tarsem, a director who likes to fill the frame, seems suited to the format. The footage we saw is also a lot bloodier (CGI blood, but lots of it). We see giant hammers smashing skulls, tridents decapitating monsters, and we see Theseus fighting a minotaur. (collider.com)
In new Immortals footage, the gods are young, pissed off, and ultra-violent
Later, the panel showed more footage, this time of a climactic fight
scene. We find ourselves inside a mountain -- I'd guess the Titans'
prison of Mount Tartarus -- in which there is a huge open-air chamber,
encircled by huge interlocking statues. A masked figure shoots an arrow
that unleashes a huge white orb, attracting the attention of blackened,
inhuman creatures.
Then fiery golden rays shine down on the mountain,
heralding the appearance of Zeus and his warriors.
Zeus tells the waiting monsters, "None of you will leave this place",
and, with that, the fight begins. The fight is brutal and bloody,
featuring decapitations, disembowelings, impalings, people (and
monsters) being chopped in half and hurled into stone walls...
basically, every insane thing that could happen in a fight does happen, (io9.com)
For your complete fill of the panel, I've shared 10 clips from the comic-con panel in the extended post from (thehdroom.com)
Posted by dschnee at 5:46 AM
July 16, 2011
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Ends with New Records
What an epic turnout, acres, and acres of people came out to see
the final cinematic chapter in the world of Harry Potter. Many have
been reading these books since grade school, high school, and college, so for the vast
amount of fans it's been a 14 year journey coming to an emotional end. Did it pay-off? Yeah, I think so.
Very happy to work a film so many people have seen, will see, and enjoy, even if such a tiny contribution. So while looking at the records below, I stumbled upon an interesting statistic, I have now worked on the top 3 all time box office single day grossing movies, check out the numbers below:
Opening Night (Midnight Showings) $43.5 Million
Harry Potter and the Deathly
Hallows - Part 2 earned a record $43.5 million at midnight showings,
surpassing The Twilight Saga: Eclipse's previous record of $30 million.
IMAX theaters set a new record as well with $2 million at midnight.
The epic finale has already grossed $105.1 million at the worldwide box
office with the weekend still to come! Just on Wednesday, the film
earned $43.6 million internationally in 26 countries.
Warner Bros. Pictures released "Part 2" in 3,800 theaters at midnight
and the theater count expands to 4,375 theaters today, including 3,000
3D locations. (The Hollywood Reporter)
Opening Day $92.1 Million
On Friday, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 soared into the record books with the highest-grossing single day ever. The series finale drew an estimated $92.1 million on around 11,000 screens at 4,375 locations, dethroning The Twilight Saga: New Moon's $72.7 million.
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2's first day flew past the previous franchise high of $61.7 million, posted by Deathly Hallows Part 1 last November. It also thoroughly out-distanced The Twilight Saga: Eclipse ($68.5 million) and The Dark Knight ($67.2 million). Deathly Hallows Part 2 is even the champ in terms of estimated attendance. (boxofficemojo.com)
Opening Weekend $169.2 Million
Working its final movie mojo, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 soared into the record books with the highest-grossing opening weekend ever. The series finale drew $169.2 million on around 11,100 screens at 4,375 locations, dethroning The Dark Knight's $158.4 million. (boxofficemojo.com)
Foreign Record $312.3 Million
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 outpaced even the most generous prognostications this weekend, setting a new weekend record with an incredible $312.3 million at the foreign box office. That's 20 percent up on the previous record-holder, Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, and 32 percent up on Half-Blood Prince's series record. Add in its stunning domestic take and Deathly Hallows Part 2 also eclipsed Half-Blood Prince to set the worldwide opening weekend record with an astronomical $481.5 million. (boxofficemojo.com)
Posted by dschnee at 8:34 AM
July 15, 2011
Harry Potter and the Fantastic Finale
'Deathly Hallows' reaches an intense, satisfying end... says The Wall Street Journal, and so far the reviews are great with records said to be broken. Harry is currently holding strong at 97% on Rotten Tomatoes. The article below from online.wsj.com contains a clip showcasing our '911' sequence on The Deathly Hallows! (full of Lumos and replicating Treasure) The shot below was one of mine...
Watch a scene from "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2," the final film in the series. Video courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures.
So many good films come to bad ends, but not the tales of Harry Potter. The final episode of Harry's epic journey, part 2 of "The Deathly Hallows," is the best possible end for the series that began a decade ago. In contrast to part 1, which was a ponderous exercise in stage-setting and dramatic incipience, this film, directed by David Yates and adapted by Steve Kloves, is a climax worthy of the term. It's a dark and thunderous pageant that sets its bespectacled hero in the midst of vast forces, yet never loses track of who he is--a brave boy, to borrow both parts of Dumbledore's fond phrase, on the way to becoming a wonderful man. (Daniel Radcliffe, in his turn, has grown from likeably bland at the outset to impressively--and still likeably--confident.)
Daniel Radcliffe in 'Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2.'
Keeping the audience so closely connected with Harry is a remarkable achievement, considering the intensity of the action that swirls around him: a roller-coaster ride down to the Gringotts vaults; a dragon-back ride back up; serpentine menace on a cosmic scale; wands sizzling, towers toppling; Hogwarts besieged, and aflame; and, in the shoot-out that will define humanity's fate, not to mention Harry's future, Voldemort and his evil allies wielding weapons of sufficient energy to put the Hadron Collider in the shade. "Is it real?" Harry asks at one point, "or is it happening inside my head?" You can understand his perplexity, and you can choose your level on which to savor his mentor's answer: "Of course it's happening inside your head, Harry. That doesn't mean it's not real."
The Harry Potter film series is coming to an end but Warner Bros. hopes to keep the magic alive. Kelsey Hubbard talks with WSJ's Michelle Kung about the studio's plan to maintain the popularity of Harry Potter beyond the blockbuster films.
J.K. Rowling's books first hit the screen when computer-generated imagery was coming into the fullness of its power, and the beginning of its abuse. Some of the movie versions used the new technology to create new realities, while others abused it to the point of banality. Until now, the film that struck the best balance between technology and humanity was, by widespread agreement, "Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban," which was directed by the Mexican filmmaker Alfonso Cuarón. But all of the movies, like all of the books, were as real as they were, and as successful, precisely because they were happening inside our heads. The books have been rightly hailed for inciting a generation of kids to read. Yet the Harry Potter movies--good and occasionally indifferent, though never bad--deserve thanks for inciting a sense of wonder in a generation of kids who've been shortchanged by the movie business.
As a failed Harry Potter scholar, I must have missed, in my Muggling way, countless intricacies of the surpassingly convoluted plots. That's why I took special pleasure this time from Harry's question to his friends: "When have any of our plans actually worked? We get there, and all hell breaks loose." But I'll also miss my periodic encounters with Harry, Ron and Hermione, and with the small army of British and Irish actors who made these films a distinguished performers' pantheon: Michael Gambon, and before him the late Richard Harris; Alan Rickman, Maggie Smith, Ralph Fiennes, Robbie Coltrane, David Thewlis, Helena Bonham Carter, John Hurt, Timothy Spall, Brendan Gleeson, Gary Oldman and Jim Broadbent. Wizards all. (online.wsj.com)
Visual effects by Double Negative, the Moving Picture Co., Cinesite, Framestore, Baseblack, Rising Sun Pictures, Tippett Studio, Lola Visual Effects, Gradient Effects, and Union Visual Effects.
Posted by dschnee at 12:39 AM
Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows Part 2 is Released!
in the USA 15 July 2011
visit Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows: Part 2 @ imdb.com
Number: 1
Opening Weekend Gross: $169,189,427
Theatres: 4,375
Theatre Average: $$20,816
Weeks in Release: 1
Total Gross: $481,489,427 (worldwide)
Budget: $N/A
Running Time: 2 hrs. 10 min.
Distributor: Warner Bros.
MPAA Rating: PG-13
Genre: Fantasy
Finally, the drawn-out battle between Harry Potter and Lord Voldemort comes to an end with the launch of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2. The wizard wunderkind's last stand will play out on over 11,000 screens at 4,375 locations, marking not only the series' broadest release yet but one of the largest ever, and the movie's already set an advance ticket sales record.
Deathly Hallows Part 2's packing final-movie mojo, and the only question is how high it will fly. "It All Ends," Warner Bros.' marketing bluntly declares amidst the intense spectacle of the movie's wizard war. By opening Part 2 on a Friday instead of Wednesday like the past July Potters, Warner is clearly gunning for the opening weekend pantheon, if not dethroning all-time champ and Warner stable mate The Dark Knight's $158.4 million.
Warner Bros. Pictures, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part
2 has already broken several records in the days leading up to the
series finale's hugely anticipated release. The announcement was made
today by Dan Fellman, President, Warner Bros. Pictures Domestic
Distribution.
Advance ticket sales have skyrocketed to more than $32 million, a
new pre-opening record. Many midnight and first-day show times are
already sold out across the country, despite the fact that the movie
will be showing on more than 11,000 screens in 4,375 locations, both
marking records for the Harry Potter series, with more than 3,800
locations opening the film at midnight on Thursday night. Breaking
another industry record, the film is being released on 274 IMAX screens
nationwide.
The very first Harry Potter movie to be released in 3D, Harry
Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 will be shown in 3D at more
than 3,000 locations. In a nod to one of the most iconic features of the
title character, special commemorative Harry Potter 3D glasses will be
given free to fans attending select 3D midnight showings, while supplies
last.
Posted by dschnee at 12:02 AM
