Father Geek here posting one more of our regular weekly reports from the outback on the state of their film industry... seems pretty busy... You can check it all out below in Latauro's latest locust-free edition of...
The Downunder Report...
That guy is kryptonite on a strick.
AICN-DOWNUNDER
That guy is kryptonite on a strick.
AICN-DOWNUNDER
Okay, the industry has finally listened to your bitching, and has started doing stuff. That means a whole bunch of news this week. Enjoy.
NEWS
* Heath Ledger and Geoffrey Rush will star in CANDY, an adaptation of the novel by Luke Davies. Helmed by theatre director Neil Armfield, the film follows the descent of a young man and his addiction to heroin.
* Bruce Beresford (EVELYN) is heading to 1983 Africa with stars Colin Firth and James McAvoy (WIMBLEDON, "Band of Brothers"). Beresford, who one decade ago made A GOOD MAN IN AFRICA, will direct the film that tells the story of a man's quest for retribution during the Angolan War.
* Nicholas Roeg will direct thriller MASTER OF LIES, with Donald Sutherland (who worked with Roeg in DON'T LOOK NOW).
* Tosia from Moviehole dropped me a line regarding the Nick Cave-written film we mentioned last week. Directed by John Hillcoat, THE PROPOSITION is set towards the end of the bushranger era in the 1880s. Guy Pearce has signed and Liam Neeson is in negotiations.
* Vincent Ward's next film is the historical drama RIVER QUEEN, and will begin lensing on June 28 in New Zealand. Samantha Morton is negotiating to join the production, which features Kiefer Sutherland, Cliff Curtis and Temuera Morrison.
* Joe A directed me towards a piece of news about a new film KRAAL. Helmed by commercials and short film director David Deneen, the film is aiming for a budget of about $11million - a significant amount by Australian industry standards. The horror flick takes place over a single day, following a group of friends who are menaced by a hidden creature. According to Executive Producer Richard Stewart, a "well-known" British actress has expressed interest in starring.
* Worldwide distribution for CLANCY OF THE OVERFLOW has been granted to Bob Yar productions. The film is essentially a prequel to THE MAN FROM SNOWY RIVER, both being adaptation of poems by Banjo Patterson.
* Though it happened with a whimper instead of a bang, the US/Australian Free Trade Agreement was signed in Washington on May 18. As reported in previous AICN-Ds, the controversial agreement has been maligned by local filmmakers who say it will do more damage than good to the Australian film industry.
* About once a year, some group threatens to halt all Australian productions. But this isn't like the infamous Key Grip Uprising of '87. No, local producers organisations told their acting counterparts to enter arbitration talks, or Australian film production will be halted. The Screen Producers Association of Australia (SPAA) and the Independent Producers Initiative (IPI) have told the Media, Entertainment and Arts Alliance (MEAA) that they must stop making individual production agreements with the actors union unless an industry-wide standard agreement can be agreed upon. More on this next week.
AWARDS AND FESTIVALS
CANNES FILM FESTIVAL
Cate Shortland's SOMERSAULT, the only Australian film in Official Selection, has been getting high positive reviews following its screening this week past. Screening in the Un Certain Regard category, it received a standing ovation when it played.
Meanwhile, local comedy THUNDERSTRUCK (which has just opened in Australia) has been forced to increase its number of screenings to cope with the interest it is generating. Word of mouth is that the film, which has been dividing critics, is a shoo-in for international distribution.
NATIONAL AUSTRALIAN CINEMATOGRAPHERS SOCIETY
For the fourth year running, Jo Rossiter ASC picked up the Gold award in the Experimental and Specialised category. Adelaide-based Rossiter was presented his award by Russell Boyd (who just picked up his first Oscar for MASTER AND COMMANDER).
2005 ADELAIDE FILM FESTIVAL
Organisers are calling for entries to next year's festival, which will run from February 18 to March 3. Send them your shorts, your features, your huddled masses (though the huddled masses category may be redirected to the Woomera Detention Centre Festival).
BOX OFFICE
Eric Bana knocked Hugh Jackman down a spot, with TROY predictably taking top position. It's not likely to be contested next week, but I don't see the film being too successful in the long run (but hey, what do I know?). Aussie comedy STRANGE BEDFELLOWS impressively kept its top five position again this week, whilst ETERNAL SUNSHINE continued to be slow-yet-steady, coming in at eighth position in its sixth week.
Sooo the cash went to...
- 1. TROY
- 2. VAN HELSING
- 3. GOTHIKA
- 4. KILL BILL VOL. 2
- 5. STRANGE BEDFELLOWS
RELEASED THIS WEEK
Bad luck is a Macy tonight, the Swayze sequel loses its subtitle and gets such a limited release that even subtitled films are pointing their fingers and laughing, the French defy convention and make a film about marital dissatisfaction, a group of AC/DC wannabes take a road trip to Bon Scott's grave, Ashley Judd finally stars in a mediocre thriller, and in an improbable fantasy a Jewish boy becomes good at sport.
Here's the new releases...
- THE COOLER
- DIRTY DANCING 2
- FACING WINDOWS
- THUNDERSTRUCK
- TWISTED
- WONDROUS OBLIVION
NEXT WEEK
- McG will helm the new pregnancy-themed thriller based on Portishead's "Teardrop" music video clip, PANIC WOMB
- Martin Freeman signs to star in the story of a young man who wants to marry a pop star and then have a string of affairs (just like his idol) in BEND IN LIKE BECKHAM 2
- Universal options the true life story of Juanita Perez, the elderly female lawyer who successfully sued the NRA after the gory deaths of twenty school children, to re-tooled as a sequel to LIAR LIAR
