Miracle Island

Jack Carlisle is really a disillusioned 13-years old boy. His mother is definitely away at the office since his father left. He decides to hightail it, as his mother will not miss him. Because he is able to leave, his nanny, convinces him to see this 'magic book'. It is all about a sailing adventure on Miracle Island. As Jack reads it, he's drawn in to the world and continues numerous adventures with Prince Morgan, while running the evil Blackbeard the Sailing. He's even saved by Lily, an attractive mermaid, whom he falls deeply in love with.

Autopsy Report: DreamWorks' 'Fright Night'

Not even a shortish 101-minute running time, or Dr. Who's David Tennant, or jokes about the Twilight franchise, or borrowing cinematographer Javier Aguirresarobe from Twilight Saga: New Moon could save this film at the box office. Least of all Colin Farrell, who is decidedly not a star despite Hollywood giving him gazillion chances to become one. Everyone needs to stop trying. He's a fine actor but audiences don't want to watch him in massive numbers. Deal with it, people. That said, Fright Night took in a feeble $8.3M from3,114 theaters.It certainly seemed like a good idea to do a contemporary revamp of the 1985 comedy-horror classic written and directed by Tom Holland. But in those days, spoofing vampires was still a relatively rare occurrence. Now the wholefang thing is lame (exceptto Twi-hards). Director Craig Gillespie (Lars And The Real Girl) is being criticized for being too faithful to the original film and for not making any interesting use of 3D. Perhaps audiences sensed a rip-off and that's why they stayed away. The marketing did no harm. And a 69% positive on Rotten Tomatoes didn't hurt either. But all that Comic-Con hype and hoopla did nothing to bring in moviegoers (panel moderated by Chris Sarandon, star of the original Fright Night; a screening with introductions by talent; a Fright Night party themed as Peter Vincents lair with talent appearances; a bus wrapped in Fright Night art with a text to win message to drive guests to the event; live tweeting with Christopher Mintz-Plasse, a live online Chat With Colin, etc.) So the movie bombed, horribly underperforming the $14M Disney thought it would gross. The only good news is that it was produced for a very modest $30M. Produced by Mike De Luca and Alison Rosenzweig, the screenplay was written by Marti Noxon from Tom Holland's story and film.

Emmy Nominee Loretta Devine Reflects on a Divine Career

Emmy Nominee Loretta Devine Reflects on a Divine Career By Melinda Loewenstein August 19, 2011 Loretta Devine has spent four decades working on stage, on television, and in film and recently received her first Emmy nomination, for her recurring role on the popular "Grey's Anatomy." A well-rounded performer, with a well-rounded career, Devine exemplifies what it means to be a successful working actor, as she moves from project to project and from genre to genre.Growing up in Texas in a single-parent home with six children, Devine wanted to be a singer but wasn't finding musical scholarships or opportunities, so she focused on acting. After receiving an undergraduate degree from the University of Houston, she headed to Boston, where she got a Master of Fine Arts degree in theater at Brandeis. Then it was off to New York, where she took acting and dancing classes and began working in the theater."People see a lot of huge stuff on Broadway, but there's always Off-Broadway energy and also shows that you can work in," Devine says. "New York theater is so different from L.A., because in New York you make very little money; you were still starving and going from play to play or from a little Off-Off-Off-Broadway show to the next. So I was very lucky to get 'Dreamgirls,' but I got 'Dreamgirls' when it was called 'Project 9,' which was just an experiment." She worked on four six-week workshops of the show and originated the role of Lorell when it got to Broadway. All together, the project took about four years. "It was almost like going to college again," Devine says. "It was a long process to get to that point where it became a Broadway show."She moved to L.A. to appear alongside Sidney Poitier in the 1988 film "Little Nikita," and things just kept rolling in film and TV from there. Her Emmy nomination for "Grey's Anatomy" is for her work as Adele Webber, the hospital chief's wife, who has been diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease. "What was more important than really understanding the disease is the relationship between my husband and myself," Devine explains, "and the way we bicker back and forth, and he runs this huge hospital and I'm very argumentative with him in front of the people that he works with. So it was just a matter of keeping the character focused, and my character's in total denial that anything's wrong with her, and so that was very interesting too." In addition, Devine stars on ABC Family's "State of Georgia," with Raven-Symone and Majandra Delfino.Devine has also worked on several films this year, including "Jumping the Broom," of which she says, "I absolutely loved creating that character." With film, you "have a chance to go away from home and go out and just focus on the people that you're working with and that character." After years of studying and years of working, Devine has developed her own preparation technique: "For movies, I usually do an entire book that has all kinds of things about what is happening at the time the movie is going on and try to get into what my character's going to be like, to try to get some consistency, because they shoot movies out of order." But every project is different. "David E. Kelley writes the greatest monologues," she says. "You have to really learn how to memorize and remember his words so they will be exactly what he wrote, and so all of that takes a lot of technique and a lot of study. It's hard work."'Pieces' of Her Besides acting and singing, Devine also writes poetry. So when her pilot with David E. Kelley ("Legally Mad") didn't get picked up, she decided to put together her own stage show using her written work. "It's a show of visual art pieces that I'd done, poetry I've created, stories about my childhood and my competitiveness on different acting jobs and talking about what happened on different sets and everything," she says. "It's just pieces of me. Pieces of all the artistic things that I like to do, and it's all together in one package." The show is aptly titled "Pieces of Me."Devine wrote it, composed all the music, rented a small theater, and subsequently earned NAACP Theatre Award nominations for best one-woman show and best musical director. Despite her busy film and television career, she doesn't rule out a return to the stage, either with her one-woman show or a new Broadway musical.Though she has a large body of work, Devine says, "I still audition for things. The new directors and new writers are sometimes so young, they're not as aware of your work as you would want them to be, so if you can go in and show them what you can do, your chances of getting the part are much greater." Devine recalls going to an audition early in her career and seeing Gladys Knight there. "And I called my mom while I was there: 'Mom, guess who I'm at the audition with.' But sometimes that happens to me now." And she still has to audition for voiceover work, because it's hard to get since she has such a distinctive voice, she says. But it's a lot of fun, she adds. "You just roll with it."Her advice to actors regarding auditioning: "Be prepared. You have to know your part, know your lines. You have to be on time. People like to know that they'd like to work with you and like to be around you." If you get the part, she says, it's important to make a good impression. "There are etiquette things that actors, new actors, need to know about. Because it only takes one mess-up on a set to get fired. Not being where you're supposed to be or saying something to the wrong person that you're not supposed to say, and those are like basic things that the actors need to know. And they just need to be prepared and do very well when they go in for that first job, because it has a tendency to roll. If you were great on one thing, people will go, 'Oh, he's easy to work with,' and they will recommend you to someone else."Outtakes - Volunteers at Wendy Robinson's Amazing Grace Conservatory, because, Devine says, "The kids that work there are very talented and focused, and it's just a way to give back."- Learned that television is different from theater when she was let go from "A Different World": "From then on, I understood that you can't just go, 'Well, I have an idea.' It works in theater but not in TV. So, you know, you learn the ropes by going through it."- Is committed to reprising the role of Gloria Matthews in "Getting Happy," the sequel to "Waiting to Exhale." Emmy Nominee Loretta Devine Reflects on a Divine Career By Melinda Loewenstein August 19, 2011 Loretta Devine has spent four decades working on stage, on television, and in film and recently received her first Emmy nomination, for her recurring role on the popular "Grey's Anatomy." A well-rounded performer, with a well-rounded career, Devine exemplifies what it means to be a successful working actor, as she moves from project to project and from genre to genre.Growing up in Texas in a single-parent home with six children, Devine wanted to be a singer but wasn't finding musical scholarships or opportunities, so she focused on acting. After receiving an undergraduate degree from the University of Houston, she headed to Boston, where she got a Master of Fine Arts degree in theater at Brandeis. Then it was off to New York, where she took acting and dancing classes and began working in the theater."People see a lot of huge stuff on Broadway, but there's always Off-Broadway energy and also shows that you can work in," Devine says. "New York theater is so different from L.A., because in New York you make very little money; you were still starving and going from play to play or from a little Off-Off-Off-Broadway show to the next. So I was very lucky to get 'Dreamgirls,' but I got 'Dreamgirls' when it was called 'Project 9,' which was just an experiment." She worked on four six-week workshops of the show and originated the role of Lorell when it got to Broadway. All together, the project took about four years. "It was almost like going to college again," Devine says. "It was a long process to get to that point where it became a Broadway show."She moved to L.A. to appear alongside Sidney Poitier in the 1988 film "Little Nikita," and things just kept rolling in film and TV from there. Her Emmy nomination for "Grey's Anatomy" is for her work as Adele Webber, the hospital chief's wife, who has been diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease. "What was more important than really understanding the disease is the relationship between my husband and myself," Devine explains, "and the way we bicker back and forth, and he runs this huge hospital and I'm very argumentative with him in front of the people that he works with. So it was just a matter of keeping the character focused, and my character's in total denial that anything's wrong with her, and so that was very interesting too." In addition, Devine stars on ABC Family's "State of Georgia," with Raven-Symone and Majandra Delfino.Devine has also worked on several films this year, including "Jumping the Broom," of which she says, "I absolutely loved creating that character." With film, you "have a chance to go away from home and go out and just focus on the people that you're working with and that character." After years of studying and years of working, Devine has developed her own preparation technique: "For movies, I usually do an entire book that has all kinds of things about what is happening at the time the movie is going on and try to get into what my character's going to be like, to try to get some consistency, because they shoot movies out of order." But every project is different. "David E. Kelley writes the greatest monologues," she says. "You have to really learn how to memorize and remember his words so they will be exactly what he wrote, and so all of that takes a lot of technique and a lot of study. It's hard work."'Pieces' of Her Besides acting and singing, Devine also writes poetry. So when her pilot with David E. Kelley ("Legally Mad") didn't get picked up, she decided to put together her own stage show using her written work. "It's a show of visual art pieces that I'd done, poetry I've created, stories about my childhood and my competitiveness on different acting jobs and talking about what happened on different sets and everything," she says. "It's just pieces of me. Pieces of all the artistic things that I like to do, and it's all together in one package." The show is aptly titled "Pieces of Me."Devine wrote it, composed all the music, rented a small theater, and subsequently earned NAACP Theatre Award nominations for best one-woman show and best musical director. Despite her busy film and television career, she doesn't rule out a return to the stage, either with her one-woman show or a new Broadway musical.Though she has a large body of work, Devine says, "I still audition for things. The new directors and new writers are sometimes so young, they're not as aware of your work as you would want them to be, so if you can go in and show them what you can do, your chances of getting the part are much greater." Devine recalls going to an audition early in her career and seeing Gladys Knight there. "And I called my mom while I was there: 'Mom, guess who I'm at the audition with.' But sometimes that happens to me now." And she still has to audition for voiceover work, because it's hard to get since she has such a distinctive voice, she says. But it's a lot of fun, she adds. "You just roll with it."Her advice to actors regarding auditioning: "Be prepared. You have to know your part, know your lines. You have to be on time. People like to know that they'd like to work with you and like to be around you." If you get the part, she says, it's important to make a good impression. "There are etiquette things that actors, new actors, need to know about. Because it only takes one mess-up on a set to get fired. Not being where you're supposed to be or saying something to the wrong person that you're not supposed to say, and those are like basic things that the actors need to know. And they just need to be prepared and do very well when they go in for that first job, because it has a tendency to roll. If you were great on one thing, people will go, 'Oh, he's easy to work with,' and they will recommend you to someone else."Outtakes - Volunteers at Wendy Robinson's Amazing Grace Conservatory, because, Devine says, "The kids that work there are very talented and focused, and it's just a way to give back."- Learned that television is different from theater when she was let go from "A Different World": "From then on, I understood that you can't just go, 'Well, I have an idea.' It works in theater but not in TV. So, you know, you learn the ropes by going through it."- Is committed to reprising the role of Gloria Matthews in "Getting Happy," the sequel to "Waiting to Exhale."

Stars pucker up for 'Lemon'

Keith Nobbs, Kellie Overbey and Kevin Kilner have reserved lead roles in Keen Company's approaching Off Broadway revival of Lanford Wilson's "Lemon Sky." Little-seen Wilson play informs an autobiographical story in regards to a 17-year-old moving to California to reside together with his estranged father's new family. Nobbs was last on Broadway in "Lombardi," while Overbey has made an appearance in "The Coast of Paradise" and "QED," amongst others. Kilner lately starred within the Mint's Off Broadway staging of "Is Existence Worth Living." Jonathan Silverstein ("The Temperamentals") directs "Lemon Sky," which starts previews Sept. 13 in front of a Sept. 27 opening in the Clurman Theater at Theater Row. Show may be the to begin two productions this year from Keen, having a revival of "Painting Places of worship" to follow along with early in the year. Contact Gordon Cox at gordon.cox@variety.com

Speakers set for film finance confab

FordPopelka Bart IM Global's Stuart Ford, FilmNation's Milan Popelka and Variety's Peter Bart are among the speakers set for next month's Film Finance Forum East, presented by Winston Baker in association with Variety.Event brings together bankers, private equity investors, entertainment execs and other top players in the pic financing arena to discuss new strategies, risk management and other issues affecting the sector.Supporting sponsors of the forum, set for Sept. 14-15 at Gotham's Park Central, include Entertainment Partners, Gray Krauss Des Rochers and Sonenshine Partners.The Film Finance Forum is now in its third year; previous events have also been held in Los Angeles, Cannes, Singapore, Moscow and Zurich. Contact Variety Staff at news@variety.com

Real Steel's Shawn Levy Joins Big Screen

Will bring massive robots with him!Love robots? Love Hugh Jackman? Want a robot Hugh Jackman of your own? Okay, we can't help there but we can offer a unique behind-the-scenes look at Jackman's robot-fuelled fight flick Real Steel at Empire Presents.... BIG SCREEN this Saturday. Real Steel director Shawn Levy will be there in person to introduce so-far unseen footage from the movie and a look at how Sugar Ray Leonard taught Hugh Jackman how to box. Fingers crossed there'll also be a bit where Hugh Jackman shows Sugar Ray Leonard how to growl menacingly while turning someone to pastrami with adamantium claws. As a robot-controlling pugilist, Jackman will have those Wolvy claws firmly retracted in Real Steel. He operates the heavyweight robot that he and his son Max (Dakota Goyo) build to challenge for the championship. It's Robot Wars meets Raging Bull. It's also a BIG SCREEN spot that's for kids of all ages. Atom, the robot from the movie (pictured below), will be there to pose for photos and Levy will be signing autographs after the session. What are you waiting for? Head over to the BIG SCREEN website to book tickets.

Get Your Tickets: Big Lebowski Cast Reunites in NYC

Attention, all New York aficionados of The Big Lebowski! Tickets for this year’s local Lebowski Fest are officially on sale, with one of the event’s biggest coups set for Aug. 16: A screening of the Coen Brothers’ classic, followed by a cast reunion featuring Jeff Bridges, John Goodman, Steve Buscemi and Julianne Moore. Dude. Alas, no Coens or John Turturro, and tickets are $40-$60 per pop (plus fees), but hey. You can’t win them all, and what you can win — an ultra-rare opportunity to have Bridges and Co. wax nostalgic about the cult favorite — seems a fairly reasonable trade for the Lebowski obsessive in your life. Not coincidentally, the film arrives on Blu-ray that same day, with Bridges’s new album debuting as well. Synergy! (Producer and Lebowski “musical archivist” T Bone Burnett will also be on hand for the discussion.) Anyway, tickets are flying for the event at Manhattan’s Hammerstein Ballroom; check availability here, and get the rest of lowdown about the rest NYC Lebowski Fest here. Good luck!

The Darkest Hour Trailer Invades

'They came here with a plan.... 'It must have been decreed one of the few annual Trailer Overload weeks, as loads of promos are appearing online. And, given that it has been teased for days, the first full trailer for alien invasion pic The Darkest Hour is now among them. Directed by Right at Your Door's Chris Gorak, The Darkest Hour finds Emile Hirsch, Rachael Taylor, Max Minghella and Olivia Thirlby among a group of American tourists who arrive in Moscow for what they think will be the trip of a lifetime. Little do they realise it could also be the end of their lives as a nasty bunch of aliens descend upon the city (and the rest of the planet), intending to overrun the place, make off with our precious power supplies and kill us all. But though our heroes try to fight back, the sneaky extraterrestrials have an edge - they're invisible, appearing largely as crackling arms of living energy that can snatch humans up and disintegrate them without much trouble. Soon, the human race is struggling to stay alive...With backing from Wanted's Timur Bekmambetov and the advantage of a slightly different locale for once, Hour could be a fun ride, even if some of the shots do make us worry about a new Skyline...You can see the trailer at Apple along with some concept art for the movie, a few examples of which we've put in the gallery below...{The Darkest Hour concept art}. The Darkest Hour arrives on January 13 next year.