Angelina Jolie's first 'Unbroken' image
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- Published on Friday, 11 October 2013 03:54
- Written by USA Today
Angelina Jolie releases her first image from the film "Unbroken." It's of the director and her subject.Angelina Jolie has released the first picture from her directorial effort Unbroken.It's a photo of the director with the inspiration of the story, Louis "Louie" Zamperini. The famed Olympic long-distance runner survived brutal conditions as a Japanese prisoner of war during World War II.Jolie and and Zamperini are actually neighbors in the Hollywood Hills and have become close friends over the film's development.Zamperini even gave Jolie a golden running shoe pendant, a prize from one of his earliest race. Jolie will wear it every day as she helms the film in Australia.In a release with the photo, Jolie said of her subject: "It will be hard to make a film worthy of this great man. I am deeply honored to have the chance and will do all I can to bring Louie's inspiring story to life... He has made me a better person." Zamperini referred to Jolie as "a human dynamo." "I know she will tell this story in the right way," he added. Zamperini's story was made into a best-selling book by author Laura Hillenbrand.Jack O'Connell will appear as Louis Zamperini in the film arriving in theaters Christmas Day, 2014.
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Disney's 'Maleficent' to Undergo Reshoots, No Angelina Jolie Required
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- Published on Friday, 11 October 2013 03:51
- Written by Moviefone
There's trouble brewing on the set of Disney's "Maleficent," the Angelina Jolie-starring live action movie delving into the back story of the villain at the heart of "Sleeping Beauty." The Hollywood Reporter writes that the movie will undergo reshoots to fix problems with its opening, with several new scenes written by director John Lee Hancock."Maleficent" producer Joe Roth tells THR that Hancock will be brought on in a supervisory role, but that he would not be taking over directing duties from Robert Stromberg, who's making his feature directorial debut."We asked him to be on set," Roth said of Hancock. "He's not directing. He wrote pages and I hired a first-time director and it's good to have him on set."Stromberg won production design Oscars for his work on "Alice in Wonderland" and "Avatar," and Roth noted that it was Stromberg's reputation for such attention to beautiful detail that secured him the job. Hancock would merely be helping iron out the opening, Roth said, which anonymous sources told THR was completely rewritten by Hancock."The movie is gorgeous to look at and the last 75 minutes are really entertaining," Roth said.The reshoots, to take place over eight days, will not involve Jolie. "Maleficent," which has a budget in excess of $200 million, is still expected to keep its planned opening date of May 30, 2014.
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Angelina Jolie Gifted With Special Pendant From Louis Zamperini
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- Published on Friday, 11 October 2013 03:45
- Written by Contact Music
Actress-turned-director Angelina Jolie has been wearing a special necklace on the set of her new prisoner-of-war movie Unbroken after receiving the gift from the film's real-life subject.The Wanted star has started work on the movie adaptation of Olympian Louis Zamperini's survival story, and she has a lucky charm to help her make all the right decisions.Zamperini, who was captured by the Japanese during World War Two, struck up a close friendship with Jolie while she was developing the project, which is now shooting in Australia, and he has shown his support for the Hollywood beauty by giving her a gold pendant in the shape of a running shoe - a nod to his days as an athlete at the 1936 Berlin Olympics.He tells People magazine, "Angelina is a human dynamo, and I know she will tell this story in the right way."Jolie admits tackling Zamperini's life story has been a little daunting, but she's proud to be in charge of the project, which is based on Laura Hillenbrand's biography.She says, "Like all readers of Laura's book and all people who love and admire Louis, I am a fan. It will be hard to make a film worthy of this great man. I am deeply honoured to have the chance."British newcomer Jack O'Connell will portray Zamperini in the film, while Domhnall Gleeson has been cast as war hero Russel Allen Phillips.Zamperini became a prisoner of war in 1943 when his U.S. Air Force plane crashed down in the Pacific and he was captured by Japanese soldiers behind enemy lines after spending over a month at sea without food or water.
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John Magaro Joins Angelina Jolie’s Louis Zamperini Pic ‘Unbroken’
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- Published on Wednesday, 09 October 2013 06:25
- Written by Deadline
John Magaro (Not Fade Away) has been cast in Unbroken, the true story of U.S. Olympian-turned-WWII prisoner of war Louis Zamperini which Angelina Jolie is helming for Universal. Magaro will play Frank A. Tinker, an Air Force dive bomb pilot and opera singer who befriends Zamperini en route to a Japanese POW camp. Jack O’Connell won the role of Zamperini and leads a cast that includes Garrett Hedlund and Domhnall Gleeson. The script, adapted from Seabiscuit author Laura Hillenbrand’s nonfiction bestseller, is by William Nicholson and Richard LaGravenese with a rewrite by Joel and Ethan Coen. Filming begins mid-October under DP Roger Deakins ahead of an already-set Christmas 2014 release. Magaro is repped by Abrams Artists and Authentic Talent and Literary Management.
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‘Gravity’ Almost Starred Angelina Jolie and Robert Downey Jr.
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- Published on Wednesday, 09 October 2013 06:26
- Written by Variety
With Warner Bros. space thriller “Gravity” earning a stellar $55.6 million at the box office, it may come as a surprise to many how differently this film could have looked had things swayed a different way when it was originally conceived; and how close it came to not happening at all.In 2006, following the critical success of “Children of Men,” Universal Pictures and director Alfonso Cuaron paired up for the expensive space epic, co-written by Cuaron’s son, but after worries began to trickle down the studio ranks as to how exactly you market a film like “Gravity,” Universal parted ways with the project.Warner Bros., which worked with Cuaron on “Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban,” then came on board as the distributor and took a chance on a film that others were avoiding.The next positive sign that the film would was getting closer to a greenlight was Robert Downey Jr. attaching himself as the male lead in early 2010, but the pic still needed the female lead that carries most of the film. Angelina Jolie had always been eyed for the role, but a deal couldn’t be worked out and finally in summer 2010, Jolie passed, leaving the studio and Cuaron at square one.Warners tested several leading ladies and at one point was very high on Blake Lively. After working with her on “The Town,” the studio was looking at her for almost every female-driven project it had in 2010, including “Gravity,” which to several insiders at the time seemed like an odd choice given how young Lively was and the fact that the main character was suppose to have a daughter in the film too.WB eventually moved off the idea and set its sights on Natalie Portman following her Oscar win for “Black Swan,” but the actress was looking to take a much needed break (and was pregnant), leaving “Gravity” in the same state as its main character: gasping for life.
Enter Sandra Bullock.Coming off an acting hiatus herself, Bullock, who won an Oscar for 2009′s “The Blind Side,” also from WB, was looking for something that would challenge her, and top WB execs along with Cuaron and producer David Heyman saw the opportunity and moved fast to land her.Finally, “Gravity” was ready for liftoff, but there was still one more hurdle: Iron Man. Since production was forced to move because the search for the main character took so long, Downey was forced to exit the long-gestating project because of “The Avengers” and “Iron Man 3″ scheduling conflict.What would seem like a blow to most films ended up working out with George Clooney’s schedule opening up just as the film was expected to commence production. The short shoot for his character ended up working out for Clooney’s schedule and Warners signed him just in time for the first quarter shoot in 2011.In an age where films are constantly being bad-mouthed if there is any delay in development or production, “Gravity” is a case where a studio’s confidence and patience with not only the project but also the filmmaker paid off in a big way.
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