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Tag: Steven Spielberg

  • Chinese Audiences Love Jurassic Park 3D

    Chinese Audiences Love Jurassic Park 3D

    Chinese audiences marveled at Steven Spielberg’s dinosaur-romping classic from the early 1990’s this week: Jurassic Park 3D earned almost $30 million in worldwide revenue in a single week. A Yahoo News story says the increased revenue will greatly benefit the film, which is already coming to the end of its summer run in western theaters.

    The Hollywood Reporter has more: Jurassic Park 3D‘s China debut turned out at $28.8 million alone, proving that 3D re-releases are a sought-after commodity in the market of Chinese filmgoers, unlike some other parts of the world.

    Reuters via the CS Monitor breaks down the numbers: after 11 foreign markets raised $30 million for Universal, the film’s complete international haul came out to around $44.5 million, with the re-release netting Universal Studios a cool $90 million in revenue. These numbers do not take into account areas that Jurassic Park 3D hasn’t even opened in yet, like Germany.

    The original Jurassic Park was never played in China, although when it did get released it took in a worldwide total just $30 million shy of $1 billion. The Inquisitr notes that, with the 3D re-release’s bombing Chinese box office, the film has officially become a part of the “$1 billion club” and is, coincidentally, both the 17th film to break through the billion dollar ceiling and number 17 on the all-time highest grossing films list.

    Blasting off and leaving previous Spielberg epics (E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial) in the dust, the Jurassic Park franchise would, after The Lost World: Jurassic Park and Jurassic Park 3, leave the series grossing almost $2 billion worldwide.

    If you are interested in the finer details of Jurassic Park, like what parts the filmmakers and 3D artists got right and wrong, a paleontologist writing for the Telegraph has an excellent article that starts quite similarly as the film: at an archaeological dig, with scientists excavating for dinosaur bones.

    Image via Youtube

  • Steven Spielberg Warns of Movie Industry Meltdown

    As one of the most successful directors in Hollywood history, Steven Spielberg‘s opinions are often taken as fact by aspiring film directors. What happens, then, when Spielberg warns of impending doom in the film industry? Just that happened this week, as Spielberg warned film students of a coming “implosion” in the industry.

    According to The Independent, Spielberg was speaking at the opening of a new University of Southern California School of Cinematic Arts building on Wednesday. He was joined by Star Wars director George Lucas, and the pair discussed just how hard they had found it to have their recent movies released in theaters.

    “There’s eventually going to be an implosion, or a big meltdown,” said Spielberg. He went on to predict a time when several high-budget blockbusters fail spectacularly, leading to a “paradigm” shift in the film industry. Spielberg recounted that his latest movie, Lincoln, was almost released on premium cable channel HBO. He predicts that ticket prices will skyrocket, costing around $25 by the time the next Iron Man movie is released.

    Lucas backed up Spielberg, stating that Red Tails, which he executive produced, also faced difficulty getting into theaters. Lucas pointed out how ridiculous it is for the two of them not to be able to get their movies into theaters, and predicted that theaters will become more like Broadway theaters, with high ticket prices as high as $150.

    Spielberg and Lucas are currently in the early stages of creating a new Indiana Jones movie.

    (via The Independent)

  • Spielberg’s “Lincoln” Poster Debuts

    Spielberg’s “Lincoln” Poster Debuts

    Daniel Day-Lewis has always been a master of transforming into the character he plays, melding his physical appearance with that of our expectations in some magical Gary Oldman way that not many can pull off. He’s done it again in Steven Spielberg’s “Lincoln“, judging by the new poster.

    The film, which is due out in November, focuses on the president’s final few months in office; a press release with the synopsis has been issued.

    Steven Spielberg directs two-time Academy Award® winner Daniel Day-Lewis in “Lincoln,” a revealing drama that focuses on the 16th President’s tumultuous final months in office. In a nation divided by war and the strong winds of change, Lincoln pursues a course of action designed to end the war, unite the country and abolish slavery. With the moral courage and fierce determination to succeed, his choices during this critical moment will change the fate of generations to come.

    (image)

  • Steven Spielberg Makes a Cameo in SNL Laser Cats Skit

    If you’ve watched Saturday Night Live over the past few years, chances are you’re already painfully familiar with the program’s Digital Shorts, a series of short films created by Lonely Island masterminds Jorma Taccone, Akiva Schaffer and Andy Samberg. The segments were instrumental in helping SNL retain its hold on the public consciousness during a period when the program was starting to lose its footing.

    Although the previously-aired “Laser Cats” skits were amusing in their own right, none of them featured acclaimed director Steven Spielberg in a surprisingly hilarious self-aware cameo. The shorts, a parody of low-budget sci-fi motion pictures involving felines who possess the ability to fire lasers from their mouths, are simply okay at-best, though none of the previous entries featured the aforementioned filmmaker pitching an idea for his own “Laser Cats” movie.

    In true Saturday Night Live fashion, the segment showcases parodies of several Spielberg movies, including such notable efforts as “E.T.”, “Close Encounters of the Third Kind”, and “Jurassic Park”, as well as other easily recognizable productions spearheaded by the award-winning filmmaker.

    The clip opens with Bill Hader and Andy Samberg attempting to convince SNL creator Lorne Michaels that the time is right for another “Laser Cats” segment. When he balks at the idea, Spielberg promptly enters the scene, resulting in the clip you see embedded below. Unfortunately, individuals attempting to view the video outside of the US may have considerable trouble doing so, as the clip is hosted by Hulu and NBC.

  • Steven Spielberg Is Pretty Amazing

    Steven Spielberg Is Pretty Amazing

    Steven Spielberg. The name will inevitably bring to mind many movies the man has been involved with over his long career.

    Recently, Spielberg received the 2012 David O. Selznick Achievement Award from the Producers Guild of America.

    To commemorate the occasion, Todd Sandler created a tribute video that celebrates all the films that Spielberg either produced or directed. The usual suspects like Indiana Jones and The Goonies show up, but his less known films such as Gremlins and *batteries not included make an appearance as well. It truly is a celebration of everything that made Spielberg a household name and he’s sure to make more amazing films if the critical reception of War Horse is any indication.

    The compilation does an excellent job of sorting out the adventure and sci-fi films that Spielberg is more well known for while giving his more personal works like Schindler’s List their own place to shine.

    As an aside, I could have done without the E.T. footage, scariest film Spielberg ever made.

  • Spielberg Face, Caught on Video

    Earlier this year, the UGO.com publication wrote a post about the the legacy of the Spielberg Face, which is an homage to the Spielberg style of moviemaking, especially when he is capturing an actor’s reaction of awe or surprise.

    In UGO’s post, the Spielberg Face is described as such:

    When a character looks up and catches something unexpected, that’s the face. When a character watches something otherworldly take place in front of their eyes, that’s the face. When a character stares outward, mouth slightly agape and has a revelation that will change them forever, that’s the face.

    Considering Spielberg’s mighty list of movies — under the “Director” label, Spielberg is credited with 50 movies — there’s plenty of content to pick these faces from. Fast forward to the end of 2012, well, almost, anyway, and we find someone has taken the idea of UGO’s post and created a video highlighting the same Spielberg Face phenomenon.

    According to SlashFilm.com, the video was made by Kevin Lee of Fandor.com, and it features over nine minutes worth of various actors making the “Spielberg Face,” and it is required watching for all movie buffs, or, at least it should be:


    Oh, look! A fair use target. Of course, under SOPA, it’s doubtful this video would see the light of day, and if it did, the creator — as well as YouTube — would likely fall victim to the stipulations in the protection acts. That is, the video would be removed and there’s a good chance the Fandor site would be taken down by SOPA enforcement police.

    Another story for another day, apparently.

    As for the video itself, it’s narrated by Lee, who also provides a transcript for those who are considering adding subtitles to the video. An excerpt:

    Expressive close-ups of faces reacting to events offscreen. This is a common device in Hollywood filmmaking, perhaps due in part to Spielberg’s influence. Sometimes these shots even make explicit homage to his movies. This is not to say that Spielberg invented the technique. The expressive close-up existed as early as the days of D.W. Griffith, and has long been a staple of both international and classical Hollywood filmmaking.

    As you can see, a great deal of effort was put into the making of this video, which takes full advantage of fair use. The question is, under a SOPA-controlled Internet, would this video be available to the masses like it is now?